Earth
by 8XxAnimexX8
Summary: Earthland's Fairy Tail holds the first annual S-Class Trials since the devastating Tenrou island incident. But when they are sent to a world with no magic at all, the Faeries are separated all around the world. Ultimately, the government's attempt at world domination turns into destruction and the fate of Earth depends on the strength and bonds of Fairy Tail.
1. X792

**Fanfic #3, let's do this! What ever does "ERT" mean, you ask (see summary)? Why, the Estimated Reading Time, of course! Time management is your friend!** **It took me forever to publish story because I couldn't read the stupid captcha code...surprise surprise, I'm a robot. Now,** **I know that Edolas is all very familiar to us, but worry not, this isn't a copy. I also know that planet Earth is very familiar to us (I hope it is) and woAH wouldn't it be cool if FICTIONAL characters ended up in the REAL WORLD?!** **Finding Nakama is still ongoing though; don't panic. I don't own Fairy Tail by the way, just holding 'em hostage for a while.**

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 ** _.:Fairy Tail, Earthland:._**

Nab Lasaro studied the request board hard. Today was a Sunday, so it was expected that plenty of jobs would be available. Except, nothing was there. A rather buff mage ran up to the board for the tenth time in the past ten minutes. "Damn! Nothing yet? This is so unmanly!"

"Hm," Nab studied the cork. "Looks like I won't be working today."

"Like you work any day," Erza stood behind him and crossed her arms. "The S-Class Trial candidates will be announced today and you haven't even lifted a finger."

The pudgy man shrugged. "Nothing here suits my interests."

"That's because there isn't anything there," Mira walked up with a sweet smile and pinned a single pamphlet onto the board.

Elfman exclaimed. "AHA! Thanks Mira-nee, you're a man!"

He swiped at the paper but it was gone in the flash of an eye. "Sorry Elfman, but I'll be taking that." Macao winked with it in between his fingers.

"Dad, can I come?" Romeo jumped in, eager to be nominated.

"Now son, your old man needs to take care of the important stuff like— _babysitting?!"_ His eyes bugged when he read the request. "Who in the right mind adopts a baby Vulcan?"

His son's eyes sparkled with hope once again. "Does that mean I can do it instead?"

Macao scratched his head as he inspected the fine print and cleared his throat. "Come along and watch the great Macao Conbolt, future S-Class mage, on the job!"

"Wow, everyone's really putting in their all this year, aren't they?" Lucy opened the guild doors watching the father and son race out the door. "Hopefully nothing goes wrong like last year."

"You mean seven years ago." Levy corrected behind her. "We haven't aged a bit, dermatologists must hate us!"

"Right," Lucy laughed and the two of them stepped inside with an armful of books. "Do you think you'll be a candidate?"

"Me?" Levy playfully shoved the blonde, causing her friend to nearly topple over. "Eep! Sorry Lu-chan! But did you see me a Tenrou Island? I got my butt kicked."

"Oh right," Lucy plopped her books on a table. "Wasn't Gajeel there to help you, though?"

Levy grew pink and she made a face. "Wh-What does that have to do with anything?"

"No~thing." She winked and looked at the table littered with books and sighed. "What did that request want us to do again? Become librarians?"

"Well these are all first editions so they need touch up work." The bluette nodded to the crooked spines and loose pages sticking out. "And to sort them."

"Alphabetically?"

She shook her head and pulled out her glasses. "That and the year published, and some of them go wayyy back to IV500."

"That was over a thousand years ago!" Lucy cried and plopped down in a chair. "I guess this is why they offered a reward. No one wants to spend all day looking at _The Meanings of Rocks_ and _How to Live off of Powered Water."_

"I'll use my Gale-Force Reading Glasses for the sorting,"

"And I'll stick with the binding," Lucy got out the glue. "Agh! The top is stuck! Where's Natsu when you need him?"

"Where is he, though?" Levy wondered, not looking up from her work.

"Oh right! He's got some kind of Dragon Slayer flu or something." She frowned. "He ate something he wasn't supposed to again. Hey Elfman, could you help wi—"

"I'm here for you, Princess." Loke shimmered into existence and easily popped off the cap with a charming smile.

"Oh, thanks!" She beamed, not bothering to question his random appearance. "You can go back now, I'm sure you're busy on a date or something."

"You're the one true love for me, princess." He bowed down and shimmered his way back to the Spirit World.

Levy and Lucy worked hard on their librarian work while the rest of the guild went to work as well, finding anything and everything they could do to help out. Jet and Droy had taken over the bar, despite Mira telling them that won't make a candidate difference. Gajeel had been out with Pantherlily after another session of meditation under the waterfalls and came back just before sunset.

"Hey Shrimp, whatcha working on?" He leaned over Levy's shoulder and scrunched up his nose. "You sure this isn't just dust?"

"It's _Zeref's Guide to Zucchinis_." She replied and closed the book. "Done! Lu-chan how about you?"

"Yeah I just," the blonde held up her glued fingers. "I need to wash this off."

"Juvia can wash it off!" The water mage came out of nowhere, surprising even Gajeel. "But only if Love Rival promises to stay away from Gray-sama."

"Please, I haven't seen him all day. You really don't have to worry." Lucy sweat dropped and was rewarded with sticky-free hands. "Thanks Juvia."

The mage pouted, not having seen her beloved Gray-sama either. "Juvia did it for Gray-sama!"

"Hey Levy, I'm gonna go grab some—" Lucy stopped and watched Gajeel pester her best friend and decided to leave them alone. "Mira! Can I get something to eat?"

"Actually," Jet popped up from behind the counter. "I'm on duty today."

"No," Droy shoved him over with a drumstick in hand. "I am."

Lucy put her head on the counter. "Guys, I just want a snack."

"If Droy hasn't eaten it already," Jet shot his partner a look. "What can I get you?"

"Do you have any uh," She squinted at the menu. " _Blazin' Flamin' Chicken Wings_?"

"Ooh! Spicy foods!" Droy retrieved a bucket of said order. "Not my taste, wouldn't think it was yours either."

"Not for me," She smiled and placed her payment at the bar. "I want to cheer up Natsu, I don't think he'll be able to participate this year."

"Well in that case take some of this," Jet threw a fish at her so fast, she almost dropped it. "Raw, just how Happy likes it."

"Thanks! I'll be sure Mira gives you two a raise." Lucy waved goodbye and left the guild in search for her missing team members and sighed. "Probably sulking at home."

She carried the steaming boxed chicken with the fish on top in her arms and walked off-path to the remote location of Natsu and Happy's house. It was a beautiful day, summer was just ending and a cool breeze tousled her hair. Lucy enjoyed the weather until she realized that she had forgotten the way to the small cottage.

"Why, oh why did they have to choose the forest?" She grumbled and nearly tripped over a rock. "I'm hungry myself you know, maybe I'll just eat the _Blazin' Flamin' Chicken Wings_ myself."

After trudging along for the next ten minutes, she finally spotted smoke puffing out of a little chimney not too far away.

"Natsu!" She knocked on the wooden door. "It's Lucy, I brought you something!"

She stood there, holding out the food, but no one ever came to open the door.

"Natsu?" She knocked harder and held and ear to the door. "Happy? You in there? I got some fish too, although it's a bit…" She held the seafood away from her nose "Old."

Still no response and she grew impatient. "What if they're not even home?" She widened her eyes and set her head on the door. "They're probably at the guild! Master should be announcing the candidates by now."

With a sigh, she pushed off the door, but then it clicked and swung slightly open. "They left it unlocked?" She cautiously pushed it open with her finger and stepped inside. "It's a mess in here! The place was clean when I left the last time."

"Lu…sheee." A small voice came from the corner to her right and she was surprised to find Happy on the floor, under Natsu, squished. "Save me."

"Happy!" She exclaimed and set the food down. "What happened to Natsu? Is he passed out?"

"He kept trying to get out of bed and go to the guild, even though I told him not to. Then I tripped over something and he tripped over me and then fell asleep." Happy whined.

"You wouldn't be tripping over things if you picked up after yourself," Lucy sighed and nudged Natsu off of his Exceed. "I got you fi—"

" _Fooood_!" Happy cried tears of joy and flew towards where she had left the fish.

"You're welcome," She sighed again and leaned towards Natsu. "Now your turn. Natsu! Gildarts wants to fight with you!"

 _"Hubwuh?!"_ He shot up and blinked a few times. "Fight me Gil—" and then was cut off by a round of coughs. "Luce? What are you doing he— food? _Food_!"

His nose twitched and he followed Happy to where the _Blazin' Flamin' Chicken Wings_ were. The contents of the entire box was then dumped into his mouth, bones and all.

"You shouldn't eat that fast!" Lucy got up and snatched the box away. "Especially when you're not feeling well."

"Whaddya mean? I'm feeling fine." He stood suddenly and made for the door. "We need to go on a job! The S-Class— _ugh_." Turning green, he pivoted and made for the bathroom instead.

"Lushee." Happy rubbed his belly and burped. "You saved me…do you have any more fish?"

She tossed a washcloth at him. "You're gonna help me clean up this place."

"But—"

"Then the three of us can go back to the guild." She finished and took the broom that was currently being used a coat hanger. "Then Wendy can help out Natsu and we'll her the S-Class results."

"And fish?"

"And fish."

The Exceed took the washcloth and rapidly wiped down a table. "Ayee sir!"

It wasn't long before the two of them had the cottage looking spic-'n-span with Happy exclaiming "Max Speed!" 95% of the time and Natsu out cold. The sun hadn't even set by the time Lucy pulled of her rubber gloves and took it all in.

"Not bad." She smiled and found Natsu on the couch. "Do you feel good to go to the guild?"

"I'm all fired up." He dully rolled onto the floor and stood up, yawning. "Hey Happy, I think my fever's gone down."

"It dropped a lot!" He flew onto his partner's messy hair. "110 already! You'll be good in no time."

"Is 110 normal?" Lucy murmured and led the way outside. "I'm pretty sure that's not normal. Then again, Natsu's not normal."

"…talking to herself again, what a weirdo." She caught on to Happy's whispers and promised herself to hide the fish.

"I can hear you." She muttered.

"Oi, Luce! Where ya goin'? The guild's this way!" Natsu went left when she turned right.

"What do you mean?" She stopped and frowned. "This is the way I came."

"Pfft, Lushee took the _long_ way." Happy giggled and flew left.

"What are you…?" Clueless, she followed the two and found that the back entrance of the guild was less that a two minute walk away. Two minutes! "Unbelievable."

The three of them entered the guild hall, Natsu with a tinge of green, and Happy's first move was to get more fish. "Mira!" He flew to the bar only to find a very sullen looking duo. "Eh? Jet and Droy? Are you working at the bar now?"

"Mirajane says we have to work 'til the day is done and then we're free." Droy sadly set down an empty bucket of drumsticks.

"Here's your fish, Happy." Jet sluggishly brought out three fillets and slid them across the counter.

"But I can't accept these with you so sad!" Happy whined. "What happened?"

Jet had set his head on the bar and lifted his arm to point towards the request board. "S-Class candidates are up."

"Aw," The blue Exceed slowly ate his fish and sighed. "Guess you two'll have to try again next year?"

"Ahh! Let me see!" Natsu pushed through the crowd with as much energy as he could muster only to be faced with his greatest fear. "Gramps! Why didn't you put me on the list?!" Fire spewed out of his mouth in his rage.

"Natsu." Erza came up from behind him. "How are you feeling?"

" _I'M FEELIN'_ _ALL_ … _fired_ …up…" Consciousness slowly left him as he drifted to a sleep.

Erza sighed and lifted him over her shoulder. "I'll take Natsu to the infirmary, though he'll probably throw another fit when he wakes up."

"Lu-chan!" Levy bounced on the blonde with a smile. "I made it! Look!"

"I knew you would!" Lucy hugged her friend, not needing to look for confirmation. "Congratulations!"

"No, Lu-chan. _Look!_ " Levy drew Lucy towards where the results were posted and the Celestial mage's jaw dropped.

" _Me?!"_ She squeaked.

"Gihi, I made it too." Gajeel smirked and crossed his arms. "Pantherlily will be my partner again, of course."

Lucy squoze her way through to get a better look at the board, it said:

 ** _X792 S-CLASS EXAM_**

 ** _LOCATION:_** **MOUNT ANTRO**

 ** _PARTICIPANTS:_**

 **GRAY FULLBUSTER**

 **LEVY MCGARDEN**

 **GAJEEL REDFOX**

 **WENDY MARVELL**

 **LUCY HEARTFILIA**

 **ELFMAN STRAUSS**

"Only six this year?" Lucy questioned and then took a second look. _"Wendy!"_

"I know, I'm surprised too!" The Sky Dragon Slayer commented shyly. "Natsu-san was supposed to be chosen but since he got sick, Master decided to take a vote from the whole guild."

"Congrats on winning!"

"I feel bad for Natsu-san!" Wendy persisted. "I couldn't help him with his fever and now I'm taking his spot! He's gonna be mad at me." She began to tear up.

"Wendy!" Carla flew over. "Stop crying!"

"B-But Natsu-s-san!" She wailed and Carla hit her head.

"I'm sure Natsu will understand." Lucy assured her. "Besides, how could he get mad at you? You did nothing wrong!"

"I-I guess…" Wendy sniffled. "Wh-Who are you choosing for your partner, Lucy-san?"

She had almost forgotten. "Huh? Oh, well it depends on who's already been picked."

"Let's see," Levy recalled her memory. "Wendy is with Carla. Gajeel as you already know has Lily. Gray chose Freed. Lisanna and I had a bet going on so I'm with her. Oh! And Elfman picked Evergreen! Can you believe it?!"

"Something happened between those two on Tenrou, I just know it!" Lucy nodded. "Hm, I'd choose Cana, but Master passed her last time since she did technically find Mavis' grave. I guess I'll have to go with—"

She was cut off by a sudden chill that spiked down her back. Turning slowly, she was met with Juvia's penetrating gaze. "Love Rival wants to be with Gray-sama alone on Mount Antro while Juvia is stuck here, doesn't she?"

"N-No that's not—"

"Juvia won't let Love Rival get away with it! _Juvia_ will be Love Rival's partner and _claim Gray-sama_!"

" _What did she just say?_ " Gray turned from his table with a scared expression and stripped off his boxers in his nervous state.

" _Kya~! Gray-sama_!" Juvia melted and left Lucy alone.

"What just happened?" Lucy stood there, dumbstruck.

"Looks like you're with Juvia this year, Lu-chan!" Levy patted her friend on the back. "Good luck! The Trials start tomorrow, we leave in the morning, so get some sleep!"

"Mhmm," Lucy nodded absently and thought to herself. _This was going to be interesting._

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 **Well that marks the end of chapter one! (And hopefully this one doesn't go over 100 *glares at Finding Nakama*) This was a bit of an expositional chapter as you can see, they are not on Earth. The pace will pick up in ch2, promise! Read on and expect the next chapter to be soon! (Followers of FN collectively laugh at the blatant lie)**

 **Keep in mind that this is not going to be the official cover for Earth. I'm working on making/asking/looking for something really COOOOOOOL (as Jason the reporter would say)**

 **Any questions/comments/concerns/rants? Drop by a review or even slide into my PM's, for I have an answer! 8XxAnimexX8, out!**


	2. Mount Antro

**Hi! Lemme just make this update approximately 8 (9?) months later. But don't worry! Summer just started and I have** ** _a lot_** **of free time. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

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 ** _.:Kensuke Waters, Earthland:._**

"Wow, déjà vu." Lucy held up her hand to shield her eyes from the blazing sun. "Here we are on a boat for the S-Class exam, off to some mysterious island."

"Don't jinx it, Lu-chan." Levy didn't look up from her book as she knocked on the wood of her chair.

"I guess you're right," Lucy plopped back down in her seat and watched the horizon, a fog was beginning to set in. "Do you think you'll make it?" She was referring to winning the exam.

"Lu-chan," Levy set down her book and sighed. "Gray is participating. Elfman is participating. Gajeel is participating. I think it's going to be a few more years before I win anything."

"Well same here, especially when Natsu's in the running next year." Lucy slouched in defeat and Lisanna approached them.

"I brought drinks," She held up a tray, used to her bartender position at the guild. "Though the temperature has dropped a bit, weird."

"Thanks Lis-chan," Levy took a sip. "I love citrus!"

"I'd like to say a few words, if I can." Gray stepped in and picked up a glass, freezing the liquid. "No hard feelings when I take the win?"

"Aha, you forget that Cana and I beat Freed during the last exam." Lucy took her drink and smirked.

"I was going easy on you two," Gray's partner approached. "It'll take more than a bunch of half-naked women to defeat me."

"What about a fully naked man?" Levy suggested, shielding her vison with a paperback.

"Who would be- _gah!_ " Gray jumped and hid behind one of the tables on deck. "Shit, where'd my pants go?!"

"Gray-sama?" Juvia decided to show up at that moment, looking for the stripped man. "Love Rival! Have you seen Gray-sama?"

Lucy made eye contact with a pleading Gray, begging not to tell as he made his escape. "Juvia, if we're going to be partners, then you'll have to stop calling me 'Love Rival'."

Juvia thought about this for a moment as Gray slipped away. "Only if Love Rival tells Juvia where Gray-sama is."

"Deal." Lucy grinned mischievously. "He was actually looking for you, try meeting him in the boys' cabin."

"Th-The boys' cabin?" Juvia walked away, shell-shocked with a deep blush. "G-Gray-sama!"

"That was very immature of you, Lu-chan." Levy scolded with a smile.

"Hopefully he'll have no hard feelings when I take the win." She giggled and set down her drink.

Levy scoffed playfully. "You mean when _I_ win."

"If anyone wins, it'll be me." Gajeel came up from behind the small girl and she jumped a little. "Pantherlily and I have trained hard, nothing will stop me from becoming S-Class!"

"But only a _real_ man can be S-Class!" Elfman disagreed. "I am man enough."

"Huh?" Gajeel crossed his pierced arms. "You pickin' a fight?"

"Gajeel! Not on the boat! I'm not a good swimmer!" Levy chastised without thinking and then immediately felt the heat on her face that she covered with her book. "I mean…dowhateveryouwantforallicare."

"What?" He cocked his head, genuinely confused. "What did Shrimp say?"

Lucy snuffed. "Oh Gajeel, you'll figure it out soon en- kya!" The boat suddenly shuddered and tilted too much too the right. "Are we sinking?! Levy, promise me you'll never let go!"

"Just a little *hic* turbulence!" Cana shouted from the control deck, she had tagged along with Erza and Gildarts to observe the exam. "No *hic* booze at all up here!"

"Cana! I told you to _weave_ through the rocks, not ram through them!" Erza's authoritative tone cut through the sudden abundance of fog.

"Rocks?" Lucy curiously looked over the edge and saw that there were indeed jagged rocked rising out of the water, scattered like trees. "Please tell me those won't take us down."

"The hull is protected by magic; there's no need to worry." Erza replied even from a distance. "We'll be there shortly, so hold on tight."

The group went through a series of twists, bumps, and turns, but eventually docked not too far from shore. Lucy was the first to step down with wobbly knees. Juvia came last, with a rather disappointed demeanor and searched for her Gray-sama.

"Is this all rock?" There wasn't as much fog once on land, and Lucy could make out the landscape. "It's gigantic!"

And indeed it was. Mount Antro, a dormant volcano just 500 miles off the coast of Fiore. It stood nearly 30,000 feet above sea level and the outside was clustered with fragments of dark rock. Within Antro were caves inside and underneath the landmark, and it is said to get hotter than the flames of a God Slayer. Beyond the landform was a strip of land made of not-entirely cooled magma that went on for approximately one mile.

"What are we even supposed to do here? Rock climbing?" Carla frowned next to a worried Wendy. "Hardly challenging."

"This year the S-Class exam will be a scavenger hunt." Makarov announced from one of the elevated rock formations. "A race, if you call it, to collect all of the items and meet at the end of the island."

"You mean _past_ the fire walk behind the mountain?" Gray questioned. "Gee, that _flamebrain_ would have _loved_ this."

"First one at the end of the 'fire walk', as Gray put it, gets the S-Class title." Erza finished. "Oh, and their partner wins a 10,000,000J incentive."

"Once you reach Mount Antro a list will be provided for you," Gildarts signaled with his hand. "Your exam begins…"

" _*hic*_ NOW!" Cana finished.

Gildarts beamed, " _Aww~_ , we finished each other's sentences! That's my Cana!"

"GRAY!" Freed jumped, eyes sparkling with Jewels in mind. "WE NEED TO START. NOW."

"We're splitting the ten million Jewels." Elfman negotiated with Evergreen. "Half-and-half."

She scoffed and walked towards the mountain. "No, _you're_ the one who'll be passing so I'll be getting 100%."

"That's not very man of you." Elfman followed.

"Well maybe you're not _man_ enough to even win this!"

Elfman let out a soft, unmanly gasp and turned his head away. He left Evergreen behind and proceeded to grumble towards the mountain, ignoring his partner's protests to slow down.

"Lover's quarrel," Lucy chuckled. "Wait until Mira hears about this."

"It's going to rain soon," Levy looked up at the darkening sky and then warily at Juvia whose head snapped up at Lucy's mention of love. "We should look for a cave or something Lis, good luck Lu-chan!"

"Lucy, inside!" Juvia grabbed Lucy's arm, the blonde struggling not to be dragged across the pebbled ground.

"J-Juvia!" Lucy gasped after nearly five minutes of scaling the mountain to find a cave. "What's the rush? I- wait, did you just call me 'Lucy' and not 'Love Rival'?"

"Juvia doesn't go back on her word," The water mage narrowed her eyes at the clouds and watched the rain fall. "This is not normal rain."

"Is it yours?" Lucy peeked outside.

She shook her head and walked further into the cavern, it was the size of a walk-in closet. "Not Juvia's rain, we need to get further into the hearth of this mountain."

"But we'll need the list first!" Lucy remembered. "They said we'd get it once on the mountain but-"

As if she spoke the magic (literally) words, her right hand began to glow and clutched in her hand was a rolled up scroll. Juvia and Lucy gaped at if for a while in silence before opening it up. In elaborate cursive, the items in the scavenger hunt were listed:

 **Lacrima Ore**

 **Spiceroot**

 **Snap Clam's Pearl**

 **Tooth of Newt**

 **Wyvern Scale**

 **Essence of Buttertrout**

 **Dolphindeer Tear**

"Only seven?" Freed looked at the items; at the same time the participants all received an identical scroll. "S-Class is getting easier."

"The amount is no problem," Carla murmured from her side of the mountain with Wendy, staring at the dark clouds. "It's getting them that's the problem."

A bolt of lightning striked the base of Antro and Wendy shrieked. "Are you sure Laxus didn't come along?" She asked timidly and paled. "What if there's a surprise fight? I won't be able to hold out against him!"

"You'll be fine," Lisanna assured Levy. The two of them chose to travel on the exterior of the mountain, going over instead of through.

"Are you sure?" Levy solid-scripted an umbrella for Lisanna and herself. "You _do_ realize where Snap Clams live, right? Imagine lava water, they live in _lava water_. And- is the rain _warm?_ "

Holding out a small hand, she caught the lukewarm water droplets that fell from an orange-tinged sky. "You sure being outside is a good idea, Lis-chan? This is a pretty bad storm."

"Well spiceroot's need fresh air to grow, outside is our only option for now." The pale-haired mage replied and lithely got over a pile of rocks with her leopard take-over. "Let's get to higher ground, then we can see more."

"I wish Gaj- I wish Lily was here." Levy mumbled and followed.

Gajeel—also outside—paused. His head perked up and his nose twitched. "I feel a sneeze coming." He stated, needing to have attention. Pantherlily flew behind him and waited. "Gajeel, we don't have time for this. The rain- _achoo!"_

"Wait, I don't have to sneeze anymore." Gajeel dismissed the thought and continued along with Lily, who was muttering something about manners and at least saying 'bless you'. "I wonder how Shrimp is doing, ya think she's got an umbrell- _the hell?"_

Gajeel jumped back a little when ground began to rumble. Tiny pebbles on the rocky ground bounced around the larger slabs of igneous as parts began to crack. Up ahead, a stable rock came loose and along with it, a dozen boulders.

"Gajeel!" Lily warned.

He scoffed. "Hah, this is nothing!" Running _towards_ the danger, Gajeel formed an iron sword with his arm. The quake continued as he charged and nearly got his head taken off in the process.

The trembling was felt as far as the fire walk, where Makarov and the other S-Class mages waited under a tent for the victors of the exam. "Master." Erza put a hand to her hilt.

"No," Makarov frowned, answering her unasked question. "This wasn't planned."

"Would it be safe to continue?" Erza questioned, concerned. "Should we call it off?"

"Let them have some fun!" Cana insisted, swaying from side to side, interference or not. "The exam is supposed to be challenging! This just makes it more so."

"I don't know, Cana," Gildarts signed grimly. "Wendy isn't ready. Though I trust Carla to fly her out if anything were to happen."

"You know what? I'm gonna *hic* spy on 'em!" The brunette declared and marched forward. "No one try *hic* to stop me! This is gonna be some *hic* _fun~!_ "

Erza still wanted clarification. "So we just wait here? Let the test go on?"

"Hm," Makarov stroked his mustache and don't speak for a moment. "We'll see how things turn out."

"This was a horrible idea! I wish Nat- I wish Happy was here to fly us out." Lucy cried and kept one hand to the right cave wall as she followed Juvia. "First you decide that you're thirsty, but instead of drinking the rain water, you decide to go _into_ the mountain."

"The rain water is not good."

"But you're _Juvia!_ " Lucy exclaimed. "And then, our only exit is _blocked_ by a bunch of _rocks!_ What's up with that?"

"I can sense a water source, and where there's _water_ there's an _exit_."

Lucy sighed and continued to complain. "Yes, but, maybe, the water is _falling_ from the _sky_."

"Juvia just wanted to be with Gray-sama and not babysit-"

Lucy stopped her before Juvia could continue on badmouthing. "I'm still here." Juvia stopped suddenly, and since they were in the pitch darkness, Lucy bumped into Juvia shortly after. "What? Did you find suitable non-rain water?"

"Shh," Juvia hushed her and bent down. "Juvia heard voices."

Lucy quieted and strained her ears as best she could. Sure enough, the voices of a pair of rather rowdy participants echoed off the cavern walls. The first voice was un-identifiable, for the person had sneezed. But the second was the unmistakable laughter of-"

"Happy!" Lucy gasped with a smile that quickly faded into confusion. "Happy? Then that means…"

"Natsu-san must be after Gray-sama as well." Juvia's voice cut through, ice cold.

"N-No Juvia I don't think-"

" _Aggh!_ Why is this water so hot? I can see the lava beneath but it's all clear 'n stuff up here!" Natsu interrupted, the voice closer than before. "I'm hungry!"

"What is he thinking?" Lucy stood from her crouched position. "Trying to take the exam when he's still sick."

With her hand still on the wall, she made a left turn and found herself in a room glowing with Lacrima. "Oh! So pretty!" She ooh-ed and ah-ed at the grand ravine, and at the center of it was a steaming hot spring with the uninvited.

"There's no fish here, Natsu!" Happy whined. "Just hard shells!"

"The Snap Clams!" Juvia hissed behind Lucy, causing shivers to go up the blonde's spine. "They're after the items so they can win Gray-sama's heart just like Juvia!"

"Wait, you wanted to give our items to Gray?" Lucy dropped her jaw and prepared to give a speech, but Juvia was already dashing towards the Dragon Slayer. "Juvia, wait!"

"Juvia will not allow this!" the water mage fiercely sprinted out into the open cavern towards the hot lava spring where Natsu and Happy were. She raised an arm to attack with hot water, but Lucy tackled her before Juvia got the chance.

"You will not-" Lucy struggled to keep her partner down, "attack-" the two continued to wrestle while Natsu and Happy remained oblivious to the situation "my- _ow!_ Did you just _bite_ me?!"

At Lucy's exclamation, Natsu's attention was finally brought to the blonde who was now clutching her arm with a light ring of red by her wrist, where Juvia had indeed bitten the girl. "Oi, who is- Luce? And is that Juvia? If she's here that must mean the _ice fart_ is nearby somewhere!"

"He _is_ looking for Gray-sama!" Juvia hissed, "To _take_ him away from _Juvia!_ "

"Natsuuu!" Lucy dramatically reached out helplessly as her partner bolted for her pink-haired friend.

But before the rain-mage could make contact, the mountain shook violently once again and inside the cave, rock formations mixed with lacrima that had hovered above them began to crack and fall, lethally crashing to the floor.

"Eek!" Happy dodged the falling rocks, carrying Natsu away from the crazed Juvia. "We gotta get out of here!"

"But the Snap Clams!" Lucy longingly looked at the steaming hot spring, so close yet so far. A large boulder splashed into the water, spraying scalding liquid in every direction. "Nevermind!"

"Juvia needs to find a way out of here." Juvia talked to herself, seeming to have finally gotten her priorities straight.

"Thank you," Lucy sighed. "But if we couldn't find it before then how could we-"

"Juvia wasn't looking for an exit the last time," The water-mage confessed with a light blush. "Juvia was looking for Gray-sama."

"Juvia won't see Gray-sama ever again if we don't get out of this mess so get on with it already!" Lucy huffed and searched for any openings, any daylight.

"This way, follow Juvia!" She ran into what seemed to be deeper into the cave, but Lucy wasn't complaining. She'd trust her partner no matter how crazy Juvia could be sometimes.

"Wait for us!" Happy zoomed along with Natsu in tow.

"Yeah, don't forge…forge…ah- _ACHOO_!" Natsu sneezed—massively—still not quite over his sickness, and at that moment the four mages broke through the dark rock of Mount Antro and found themselves outside to breathe the fresh air.

Except, there was a thunderstorm raging and beautiful—unusual—lights that danced in the sky. All of this years' participants were out in the open, gaping at the spectacle before them. What little vegetation that grew was ripped out from the ground by the powerful winds that coursed through the air.

"What's happening?" Lucy had to scream if she wanted to be heard. "Juvia-"

"Juvia had nothing to do with this!" Juvia countered. "Is Gray-sama okay?"

Happy had dropped Natsu on impact of the weather conditions and Natsu's mouth opened up to a little "o" of realization. "Oh no…" He paled.

"Natsu, what is it?" Lucy grabbed his shoulders, shaking him when he was slow to respond. "Who knows what time we have left, spit it out!"

"I think I…I think I left the windows open back at home." Is what came out of his mouth, an answer that was met with silence. Even the raging storm seemed to die down just a tad in a deadpan. "The place is gonna be flooded!" He gasped and Lucy let go of his shoulders.

Not too far from where the s _quad_ , **(A/N haha get it? Because there's four of them—** ** _quad—_** **I'm so sorry, it's too early in the fic to be making puns. I need to gain your trust first)** the other participants were on their own part of the mountain, exposed.

"Master!" Erza stepped forward from the finishing line. "We have to do something before-"

There was a bolt of lightning that cracked in the sky and the colorful light in the sky **(they look like the northern lights)** began to shift around faster, increasing in speed as the ground increased in activity. The S-Class mages pushed on towards the mountain, deciding that the trial would be temporarily closed.

In all this mayhem, Wendy and Carla had managed to stumble upon a brooding Elfman, with Evergreen a few paces ahead. They stuck with each other the moment that the sky turned so dark with clouds that it could have passed for nighttime. "Carla, did you see this in any of your visions?" Wendy flinched at the rain that had turned into sheets of sleet.

"Nothing of the sort! I noticed that there was an odd aura with the rain earlier, but this! This is a-"

"Carla, look!" Wendy pointed towards the jagged top of the mountain, where the shifting lights spun round each other until something suspiciously like a portal began to form and glow. "Is that Anima?"

"No…I would have foreseen something earlier if it was. And besides…it doesn't feel like anything I've ever experienced before. Foreign." Carla frowned and shook her head. "This can't be a part of the trials."

"Elfman probably touched something he shouldn't have." Evergreen sniffed.

"I did not, and that was not very man of you to accuse me for it." Elfman growled in response and glared at the rain. "This cannot get any wor-"

"Shut your mouth!" Evergreen jumped up and clasped her palm over his mouth. "Saying something like that would only jinx the problem you…you… _girl!_ "

Elfman tore her hand away and grimaced. "Elfman is a _man!_ "

"Well then start _acting_ like one!" she hissed and turned away again.

Elfman opened his mouth once more, not letting the argument die. "To be or not to be a man is-"

He never got a chance to finish his sentence.

 _"Is?"_ Evergreen turned around grumpily but then stopped short when she noticed that he was leaving. Not just walking away, but starting from his legs he began to glow—just like the lights—and those glowing parts of him traveled to cover his entire body.

"Elfman!" Wendy gaped and to grab at him, but he simply dissolved into a powder of light that floated higher and higher, through the rain and into the glowing portal.

"This can't…this can't be happening!" Evergreen shrieked. "Oh Mavis, I take it back! _Elfman!_ "

"Carla!" Wendy shrieked when the Exceed began to glow in that same way. "Don't leave m- _ah!"_ Wendy too, became alight and soon melted into nothing but the stars that carried her to the summit.

Evergreen was left standing alone.

"Well?" She crossed her arms, waiting. " _Take_ me already!"

And it did, along with every mage on the mountain, leaving the Master and S-Class mages staring up at the glowing orb that took in their guild-mates before fading away. The storm died down and was nowhere to be found within seconds.

"Master! We have to find a way to- Elfman and Lisanna! They're…!" Mira exclaimed and Erza laid a hand on her shoulder, looking grim.

"That glowing piece of shit took my Cana." Gildarts clenched his jaw. "I'll be damned if I won't be getting her back."

* * *

 ** _.:?:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

One moment, the world was ending. Rain, sleet, hail was beating down like there was no tomorrow. I remember how the angry wind whipped my hair around wildly, the lightning still loud in my ears. Lights—bright and colorful—flashed all around me. I was sure that I was going to die; I had huddled close to Natsu and Happy while Juvia was trying to calm down our surroundings.

Then I remembered a very, very bright flash and the feeling of floating. Of lightness. Surely I wasn't dead, was I?

"Luce!" I had heard Natsu call for me, but it was distant in my mind. "Lucy!"

"Lucy!" A sharper, different voice cut into my mind and my eyes snapped open. There was no more rain. No more storm. No more Armageddon. In that next moment, I was standing in the front of a classroom. "Please, introduce yourself."

"I-" I stopped and took in my surroundings.

About thirty kids my own age stared back at me, to my right was a woman…teacher? Maybe. All I knew for certain is that I was most definitely _not_ on Mount Antro anymore.

* * *

 **That was a lot longer than I expected it to be, thanks for hanging in there with me. Quite the surprise, huh? From a dangerous task to the boring classroom we all know and love. Oh boy, this is going to be fun, I have so much planned for this. That's right! There's going to be an actual plot (a rare thing we can all appreciate)**

 **Questions? Comments? Concerns? Critiques? Leave it all for me to take in the reviews! Do you appreciate puns ? I sure hope ya do because there will most definitely be a few sprinkled about. 8XxAnimexX8, out!**


	3. Earth

**Chapter 3 is underway! I hope you like this fic as much as I do because I can't stop gushing at the ideas I have in store. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 ** _.:Earth:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

I continued to gape at my surroundings, what was going on? Was Natsu here? Is this a part of the S-Class trial? A few of the teens started to whisper, looking from me to the teacher and then giggling. I did not know these people and yet I flushed slightly, embarrassed for some reason.

"Well? Tell us something about yourself." the woman— teacher prodded on, tapping her foot.

"I- My name is Lucy Heartfilia." I stated, not knowing what else to say.

She pursed her lips and more snickers followed. "Yes, I said that earlier when introducing you to your new class, anything else?"

"I'm a m-mage?" I stuttered out. "From the Fairy Tail guild."

Silence.

The teacher gave an exasperated sigh and pointed to an empty desk amongst the rows, smack dab in the middle of the room. "Just…have a seat over there."

I quickly made my way over to the spot, refusing to make eye contact with anyone else in the room, and slid into my seat. I dropped a bag that I hadn't realized was slung over my shoulder and it landed on the floor with a _thud_. What was in there?

I rummaged around and found a bunch of textbooks, notebooks, a bag with writing supplies and…a weird, sleek device that fit into my hand perfectly. It had random buttons in random places; I pressed the one at the top and was surprised to be met with a glowing screen that displayed the date and time: **12:33pm; Tuesday, April 19**

"Strange…" I murmured and inspected the device further. "What magic _\- oh!_ "

When I poked around the screen it shifted to the right and a passcode-like display appeared. It seems to respond to my touch! Or maybe it sensed my magic? **Enter Passcode** Huh, I lightly tapped a sequence of digits, wrong password. I frowned and continued to guess on until— **iPhone is disabled, try again in 1 minute**

"Miss Heartfilia?" the teacher's voice caused my head to snap up, she had resumed her lesson—something about shaking spheres and poetry— but now trained her hard gaze on me, again.

"Y-Yes?" I replied, the strange device still in my hand.

"No phones in class, please. Just because you're new, doesn't mean you get special privileges. I would like your time at Point Valley High School to be pleasant, but only if you follow the rules like everyone else." she reprimanded.

Everyone else? I looked around the room to see quite a few students with their own magic devices—phones—hidden beneath their desks. I doubted they'd appreciate me ratting them out, so I simply gulped and nodded, "Of course, sorry."

I shoved the phone back into my bag and replaced it with an open notebook and pencil, to make it look like I was at least doing _something_ productive. I looked up to the board and deduced that I was in an eleventh-grade AP literary class. What AP and eleventh-grade meant, I had no idea. And no desire to find out.

I had to get out of here. "I need to leave." I muttered under my breath, eyeing the four windows that lined the left wall of the class, and the door to my far right.

"Don't we all." the guy in front of me responded under his breath and leaned back, in a stretch, so that his head hovered over my desk.

"Excuse me, but can you…?" I gestured for him to return to his original position, but instead he twisted so that he faced me directly.

He had a mass of deep-brown hair, styled with—from what I could faintly smell—hair gel. His pale green eyes with flecks of brown took me in curiously and he raised his eyebrows. Eyebrows that looked suspiciously _too_ perfect to have naturally grown that way; I'd be lying to myself if I said he wasn't attractive.

"You're new here." he stated, as if just figuring this out.

"Um, yeah, weren't you paying attention?" I frowned slightly. Heck, I may have been thrusted into this strange place, but it seemed that I knew what was going on here more than this kid.

"Oh, the music." He yanked on a pair of white cords that were plugged into his ears and wound them around his own phone. "So, what's your name?" he drawled, flashing his straight, white teeth.

I huffed ever so slightly for having to repeat myself. "Lucy."

"Lu-cy." he repeated, emphasizing each syllable. "Like the show?"

The what? My confusion must have shown because after an awkward moment he took a breath to explain, "The really old one? 'I Love Lucy' it's called."

"No," I frowned, "Like the _merchant guild._ 'Love  & Lucky.'"

"Lucky isn't Lucy."

"And apparently Lucy isn't lucky." I spoke for myself, not bothering to explain why my parents had named me how they did. "Especially if I'm gonna have to be stuck with _you_ all day."

He smirked, an annoying smirk that still managed to make my breath hitch slightly. "Well Lucy is in luck; the period ends in less than six…five minutes. Though I'm not sure what kind of school would have students stuck in the same room all day, sounds like a jail- well even more of a jail than school is already."

I've never been to a school before, being homeschooled as a 'proper lady' and all, but it doesn't sound that bad. Making friends, joining clubs, working together. I can't see how something so opportunistic could be imprisoning.

"What's _your_ name? You know mine, it's only fair I know yours." I turned on him. "Wait, forget that. I have _more important_ things to deal with."

I really did, I needed to figure what the hell was going on around here, not talk with some…some _boy_. I guess what I said sounded a tad bit harsh to anyone else not in my situation, but instead of a negative response, the boy laughed, charmingly might I add.

"The name's Dylan. Dylan Chase." he grinned before swinging back around to face forward at the same time that the teacher turned from the board to make sure the class was paying attention. "Oh and," he whispered, "I don't blame you if you start scrawling 'Lucy Chase' all over that notebook of yours. With the hearts too."

This arrogant, self-centered, narcissistic— I took in a deep breath and let myself forget about Dylan Chase. Dylan Chase won't matter when I'm back home, when I'm fighting in battles, and when I'm with Natsu.

A long pitch sounded and I realized, with what little experience I have, that it was a bell signaling the end of class. And that meant I could leave. I readily got up, grabbed my bag, and made for the door, but the rest of the class had somehow beat me to it and the only exit was congested with eager students ready to leave.

"Ugh." I sighed and waited for the ones shoving to move out of the way.

"Lucy." the teacher called me. Double ugh.

I turned around slowly with a smile plastered on my face. "Yes?"

"I just wanted to inform you that your current attire doesn't fit within our school's dress code. All pants, skirts, and dresses must be fingertip length." she eyed my skirt and I tugged it lower. "Tops should have straps at least two-fingers wide," that rule I did follow, "and there should be no exposure of your midriff or breasts."

"Oh," I blushed lightly and zipped up my blue and white vest slightly. "Anything else?"

She looked like she had a great deal to say, but shook her head instead. "If you have any questions you can visit the main office, do you remember where that is?"

I nodded, even though it was a lie. I had no desire to speak with this woman for any longer than I had to. I also nodded when she asked if I knew where my next class was, though I had no clue of that either. And with that, she finally dismissed me and I tried not to bolt for the door, classroom already empty.

As I stepped out of the room I was met with a rush of bodies. Students, there were so many, and all my age—give or take a year or so. Everyone had a bag somewhat similar to mine, and the hall had split with half of them going one direction, and the other going the opposite.

I merged in with the people-traffic in a maze of halls and staircases until I found myself in a large, open area. There were long, rectangular tables evenly spread out, as well as a few circle ones. They had round stools attached to them for people to sit and a few were eating.

A lunchroom.

Once side of this area was just a wall of windows and glass doors, exposing the natural sunlight and outdoors of the courtyard, which had benches, tall grass, pathways, and a large statue in the middle.

A Sabertooth tiger.

Well I'll be darned, this was a trap. I don't know how, but the Sabers must have messed with the S-Class trials. I panicked slightly and quickly turned away from the tiger and back down the hall I had gone through before. Sabertooth is here and I _have_ to find the rest of Fairy Tail before something bad happens.

I had been so focused on my slight paranoia that I had accidentally walked—more like ran—into someone that was talking to their friends. _Why_ they were talking to their friends in the middle of the hallway, causing an inconvenience for everyone else, I don't know.

I apologized anyway, just desperate to get out of here and away from Saber territory. "S-Sorry I have to go." I rushed on, but then someone grabbed my wrist and all the hairs on my neck prickled up.

"Wait," the voice was familiar and I didn't know whether to feel relieved or suspicious, because it was Dylan Chase. "What's the rush?"

"I…" I paled before regaining my composure, I must look weak to them. Fragile. A Fairy Tail mage never backs down. "I don't know what you're up to, but I won't let you Saber's get away with anything ever again!"

My voice had risen, despite my internal trembling and at that very moment, I noticed that my keys weren't on me.

"Whoa there, chill." he held up defensive hands, "You're a Saber now too, Lucy, that's what it means to go to Point Valley. Go Go Sabers! You gotta embrace your inner mascot."

"You can't- wait, mascot?" the fire that coursed through me cooled as I remembered that this could very well be a normal place. A normal place and _not_ a death sentence, I breathed.

"Yeah, you said that your last school was what, Fairy Tail?"

 _"_ _Guild."_ I corrected, still unsure of myself, "Fairy Tail is a guild- wait you _heard_ me say that? That means you heard me introduce myself earlier, even with the music! So then you were just teasing me earlier and-"

"Dylan! Who's this?" one of his friends finally noticed our conversation and jumped in. "Haven't seen _her_ around, and trust me, I would have noticed."

"This is-"

A dinging sound went off four times and the people around us picked up their pace. Some groaned while others simply made a panicked sound and stopped their conversations, aying their quick farewells before running off.

"Minute bell." Dylan's friend sighed. "I gotta get to gym, heard we have fitness testing today, hope it's not the pacer!" He melted in with the rest of the thinning crowd until I couldn't tell who was who anymore.

"Shouldn't _you_ be getting to class?" I glared.

He smirked and leaned against the wall as if he had all the time in the world. " _I_ actually have lunch this hour, you, on the other hand, are going to be _late_."

"Am not," I sniffed. "My class is actually right over there." I pointed to the door five feet away from us and turned away from him.

He nodded slowly and crossed his arms, not the worst look on him but I wasn't paying attention. "You _do_ realize that's the janitor's closet."

"I…well _duh_ , I was gathering chemicals for… for my chemicals class."

"Chemistry was _last_ year, juniors take physics." he stuck his hands in his pockets now.

I grumbled a bit, he was really good at riling me up and that fact riled me up further. "Well things are about to get _physical_ if _you_ don't leave me alone."

I had meant for that to sound as a threat, but once the words left my mouth I realized that an alternate interpretation was suggested. My face turned slightly redder than when I was panicking. "I didn't mean- I was gonna- you know what, _nevermind!"_

I spun away from him for good this time, "Goodbye, _Dylan Chase!_ " and walked away. The hall was nearly empty now, surprising how fast such a large mass of people could move when they put their minds to it.

"Wait!" He called out for me but I didn't stop, I didn't look back, I had to find the other Fairy Tail members. Were they in this building too? "Lucy!"

Though I had kept at a brisk pace, he ran in front of me, blocking my path when I tried to get through. I reached for my whip to get him out of the way, only to find that along with my keys, my whip was also missing. "What?" I sighed, in defeat.

"You're lost."

I didn't deny it.

"I can help you."

I looked at him, really looked at him and decided that maybe, just maybe, he was worth hearing out. "How? No, why?"

"Because…I have nothing better to do." he decided, "And to be a good _Samaritan_ , helping out those in need." The familiar pitch of the bell rang, signaling that the next class has begun.

After another long silence, I gave in. "Fine, lead me to the exit." I walked on and he followed by my side.

Dylan stopped. "No, I'm leading you to your next class, what is it?"

"You said you wanted to help me, a stranger to you, might I add. What I need now is to get out of here. I have more important things at stake here!"

"Oh c'mon, there's only two more periods left! After that you can go home. If you leave now, without permission, you'll get into trouble."

I honestly didn't care about the dress codes or school rules anymore, none of that mattered because I don't see any reason why I'd have to come back here ever again. " _I_ won't get in trouble because _you'll_ be helping me escape." I said instead, "I bet you've skipped out before."

This time it was he who took a good look at me, at my resolve, and I noticed his shoulders sag a little. "Fine."

Yes! I squealed ever so girlishly and he gave me a strange look, but I didn't care. I was getting out and I was going to find my friends. We didn't talk much as Dylan walked ahead of me, turning left and right, sometimes keeping a straight path. I was about to make a complaint, accusing him that he didn't know where he was going, when a voice stopped the both of us.

"What are you two doing?" a burly looking man, with a scruffy beard, khaki pants, and a polo shirt walked up to us and peered through his glasses. "Class has already started."

"I…"

"I ran into her in the hall," Dylan spoke before I could stay something that'd get us into trouble. "Lucy's new here and doesn't know where her next class is, I was gonna show her."

"Hmph," the man turned his attention to me, the undeniable shape of a Sabertooth was stitched onto his polo and I paled slightly. "Let me see your schedule, Lucy, was it?"

I nodded and reached to open my bag when I realized, I don't have a schedule; I had just shown up in that classroom with the bag any myself. "I uh…don't have one."

"You mean to tell me that the staff didn't supply you with one when you walked into the main office?" he frowned and I nodded once more and he grumbled on. "Fine then, Dylan, I want you to escort her there, and no funny business like the last time."

The man gave us one final look before turning back down the hall he had come from. I waited until he was gone for sure before I spoke, "Who was he?"

"The dean." Dylan sighed. "Looks like you'll be going to the main office then, I wouldn't want to risk running into him again."

"What did he mean by 'funny business'?" Dylan didn't strike me as that bad of a person.

"Oh just some stuff with breaking the law."

I looked at him, unbelieving.

"I'm serious! I don't look like it, but I'm quite the computer whiz. If you ever need me to hack into your archnemesis' Twitter account, I'm your guy."

"What type of magic does Dean have?" I questioned, Dylan seemed worried and I wondered if the Sabertooth here was as deadly as the one I knew.

He chuckled a bit and began to take a different route, I followed. "He's _the_ dean, not Dean. His name is Mr. Johnson and if by magic you mean handing out detentions and suspensions, then I'd say a very effective one."

"He doesn't have _real_ magic then? He's normal?" I asked on, making Dylan pause and frown at me.

"Magic?"

I coughed a little. "Yeah, like…" I felt a little skittish under his gaze. "Summoning, Dragon Slayers, runes…all that stuff."

"I don't know what you mean, but," he continued to walk. "There is no 'magic' here."

"None? No magic?" I repeated and slowed a little. "But what about the lights in this building?"

"You mean technology?" he frowned, "Mainly electricity."

Technology. I turned the word over in my head, something that isn't magic? Maybe this was Edolas, or a place similar to it.

"And the phones?"

"Also technology." After a few paces, he spoke again, "You are a strange girl, Lucy Heartfilia."

"No magic," I whispered again, bizarre. So this must be a new world then, a new dimension—if not parallel—that has absolutely no magical history. How the people here managed to thrive is amazing on its own, it appears that they're doing well.

Maybe that's why I don't have my keys, my whip. As fascinating as I find this, the prospect of a magic-free world poses as a problem for me. How am I supposed to return back to Earthland then?

"Where are we?" The thought raced into my mind.

"Approaching the main office," Dylan gestured to an approaching room that was made of windows in the front so people could see inside.

"No," I stopped. "I mean _where_. Planet, country, city, tell me all."

He seemed to have gotten used to my strange questions by now, seeming unfazed. "Okay, well first we have the galaxy. That'd be Milky Way. Milky Way is also a delicious candy bar made from a combination of chocolate and caramel."

"Get on with it." I huffed, though that little detail did seem worth looking into later on.

He took a breath before listing off names, "Planet: Earth, the only one capable of supporting life in our solar system, but scientists have begun to look into it more. Country: The United States of America, founded back in 1776 I believe, we are as free as can be. State: California, the southern bit, so we get plenty of tourists. City: Ashbury with a population of about 120,000 good ole humans."

"Earth." the word was familiar, yet foreign in my mouth. "Not Earthland."

"Well, the Earth _is_ approximately seventy percent water, so no, not an Earth _land_." Dylan chuckled a bit and stepped forward. "And here we are, the glorious main office." he bowed, ridiculously, as I walked away from him, to whatever awaited me beyond the glass. "See ya later?"

" _Hopefully_ not." I talked over my shoulder jokingly, just loud enough for him to hear. But when the door closed behind me, I realized that there was a very good chance that I would never see Dylan Chase again, not if I cared to find out what happened to my friends.

"Can I help you?" A gentle voice interrupted my thoughts and I walked up to the front desk where a middle-aged woman peeked at me from above her glasses. "Oh! Lucy, dear!"

Dear? "Hi, um, I've come here to get my schedule?"

"You don't have yours? I remember handing you one, did you lose it?" so I must have met this lady before.

"Haha, yeah looks like it, sorry," I bowed my head in apology.

The woman tsked. "No need for that, just have a seat, hun, I'll go get you another one."

I smiled at her as she left and sat in the cushioned waiting chair, one of many that were arranged in the room. A loud tune played from what looked like a lacrima screen, but it was black rimmed and was from technology, not magic.

"Good afternoon, I'm Jane Doe and you are watching World News. We have reports coming in from Chicago on continuous gun violence, despite the city's efforts to limit future damage and loss of life." the woman talked confidently on screen, much like the news reporters back on Earthland.

"Guns?" I breathed, we had those on Earthland, too. Were the guns here like Bisca's and Azlack's, or technology as well?

"My name is John, Doe, reporting from Chicago. Here on Lakeshore Drive there have been numerous calls of gang activity and other violence recently." the screen cut to a man wearing a windbreaker with a large mass of water behind him. "The winds around Lake Michigan seem to be picking up again."

"As expected in the Windy City," I heard Jane Doe respond, probably though a microphone. The camera zoomed in on the waves of Lake Michigan, how they crashed into each other and onto the sandy beaches.

The reporter, John Doe, braced against the high winds. "But the weather here has become increasingly violent along with the guns and lack of control, as we all know around the world that climate change is clearly taking its toll."

"I hope you're alright out there John, looks like- wait, is there a _man_ out in the water?" Jane's voice got louder.

"Why, _yes!_ Yes it is!" John exclaimed incredulously. "Cameraman, zoom in on that figure!"

The video zoomed in on the restless water, it blurred before focusing on a pale parson that appeared to be struggling to escape from the waves. The reporters watched in silence and so did I, who would be out in such dangerous weather?

The man slowly made his way to more a more shallow surface as he approached the beach and stood. "Oh my…oh my goodness gracious is he _naked?!"_ Jane shrieked from her end. The picture wasn't sharp, but it was obvious that the man had no clothes.

I laughed quietly to myself, thinking of Gray and his stripping habit, but then I noticed something on that man's chest. It was a dark blue smudge that I couldn't quite make out. The camera finally cleared so that we could see all the details of this strange man.

As his private parts became more visible to the public, the camera blacked off probably for protocol reasons. Before the screen when blank, however, I glimpsed the unmistakable Fairy Tail insignia marked on the raven-haired man's chest.

It was Gray.

* * *

 **Well gee, that was a lot longer than I had expected. Longer chapters yay or nay? I HOPE I DIDN'T BORE YOU! Writing about the school was a lot more fun than I had thought it'd be. Feel free to leave your reactions in the review box below! I'm excited to see if this fic is doing well (or not, it's for you to tell)!**

 **8XxAnimexX8, over.**


	4. Colorado

**No. 4, at your door. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 _ **.:Ashbury, CA:.**_

 _ **.:Lucy's POV:.**_

Gray was alive, and by the looks of it, he was doing quite alright.

"Questions arise about the strange man that emerged from Lake Michigan," the news flipped back to the anchor Jane Doe. "More will be looked into his origins, but for now we begin our story on the tsunamis that—"

I tuned out the rest of what the anchor said as the kind receptionist from before returned with a slip of paper in her hand. "Here you go," she smiled at me again, and I was surprised to find two copies. "Just in case you lose it again." she winked at me and sat back down.

"Thank you ma'am." I bowed.

"Oh, no need for that," she waved a hand, "Just call me Mrs. Wilde."

I nodded and turned towards the exit, looking at my new schedule but not _really_ seeing. My mind reeled with this newfound information that I knew where at least _one_ of my friends were. Gray was in a place called…Chicago, I think it was. How far was that from southern California?

As I pushed open the door, lost in my thoughts, I almost didn't notice the figure leaning against the opposite wall, almost. It was Dylan Chase, he seemed to be engrossed into whatever was on his non-magical, technology phone of his. "You're still here?" I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well," he shoved his phone into his pocket after a moment before looking up at me with a smirk. "You've got a class to go to and have no idea where to find it."

"You're supposed to lead me to the exit." I reminded him of my original request.

"And I have, if you just turn ninety degrees…"

He was right, I faced two pairs of glass, French doors that led undeniably to the outside. But I couldn't very well just waltz out of here as I pleased; it was right by the office where everyone could see. I'd probably get tracked down like some animal.

"Are there any _secret_ exits?" I hissed.

He shrugged and pushed off the wall, "And get caught again by the dean? No thanks. What do you have for seventh period?" he snatched away my schedule and red the print. "Honors Spanish: room H218, well aren't you a smart one."

"I don't even know what Spanish _is._ " I took the paper back and folded it twice before tucking it in my bag.

"Sure you don't, _querida_." Dylan gave me a sidelong smirk and turned to go up a staircase.

I paused before following, "What did you just call me?"

"You really _don't_ know what Spanish is," he scoffed, "It'll be torture for you then, to have to be in that class. Probably an administrator's mistake, but still your loss."

We made our way down the hall, all of the hallways were near identical, I realized. I couldn't imagine roaming all on my own, feeling slightly grateful for his presence, I broke the silence. "Don't you have a lunch to eat?"

He shrugged, "Ate it in class."

"Friends to sit by?"

"They're all in class." he slowed his pace.

"I doubt that."

"And here we are," stopping in front of a closed, pine door, he gestured for me to go in. "Enjoy the _fiesta._ " And with that, he walked away. "See ya later." could be heard before he rounded the corner.

"Wouldn't count on it!" I called back and faced the door. Reached out for the door. Grabbed the handle of the door. Turned, and pulled it open.

* * *

 _ **.:Chicago, IL:.**_

"Damn, it's windy." the naked man—Gray Fullbuster—had to constantly keep the high winds from getting his hair in his face. "And it just got windier."

A news helicopter flew overhead, its large blades beat at the air, causing gusts of lake water to harshly spray everywhere. A man with a large camera propped on his shoulder leaned out halfway, and Gray had the grace to look down at himself.

"Shit, no pants!" he looked around frantically for something to hide himself with, but there was only water and sand, so back into the lake he went.

"Who the _hell_ are you?" he shouted, but to no avail; the helicopter was too loud. "Where- where's Freed?!" Gray searched for his partner in the water, but he was the only one.

Not noticing that the water was frigid, due to his adaptability to the cold, Gray silently cursed the S-Class trials and Master for getting him in this situation; how was he ever supposed to find the scavenger items in a place like _this?_

"All right folks, shows over," Gray grumbled before raising his arms and shouting, "Ice make: _wall!_ "

Nothing happened.

"Ice make," he grit his teeth and focused harder on his task, _"WALL!"_

Still nothing.

"What kind of whacked up… is this _Edolas?"_ he wondered aloud, but clearly, no one was going to answer his questions, so he did the only thing he could do. He made a run for it.

Leaping out of the water and onto the sandy beaches, Gray the exhibitionist streaked his way on the shorelines of Lake Michigan, with an eager helicopter in tow. Eventually, he hopped up onto a sidewalk, and was approaching the hustle and bustle of Chicago. The civilians shrieked at the naked man whooshing past them at an alarming speed.

The helicopter had been left behind in his dust and then was unable to squeeze through the tall skyscrapers to get a closer look. Gray veered down a narrow alleyway and nearly slammed against a dumpster in his attempt to slow down and stop. Levelling his breath, he peered out from the alley and noticed that the lake had become but a mere blue streak in the distance.

"I couldn't have run _that_ far," he took in his surroundings, "Then again, I wasn't tracking the time." Spying a dry cleaners conveniently across the street, Gray made another mad dash towards the shop.

The glass door was locked. He could see through the windowed front a small sign that said **ON BREAK** and let out a ragged breath. Out of sheer spite, Gray yanked on the handle and was surprised, albeit slightly horrified, when the door came off its hinges and shattered a few feet away.

"Was that… _me?_ " he took no time to gape, for the police sirens could already be heard from a distance. Diving into the racks and racks of clothes, he picked out a pair that fit him enough—a loose sweatshirt that he didn't care to zip up along with jogging shorts— and made back for the exit.

Only, the exit was blocked by men clad in navy-blue uniforms and armed with guns. Guns that were pointed right at him.

"Sir, you are under arrest for public indecency, breaking & entering, as well as theft." the head cop—the one with aviator glasses—stepped forward.

"I don't have time for this," Gray muttered, but seeing as he had no weapons, escape plans, or working magic, he reluctantly complied.

"You have the right to remain silent," the officer cuffed the ice-mage's hands and led him into a police cruiser, pushing his head under the frame. "Anything you say _can_ and _will_ be held against you."

* * *

 _ **.:Ashbury, CA:.**_

 _ **.:Lucy's POV:.**_

I sat through nearly an hour of what was pure gibberish to me. Spanish, I have gathered, is a language originating from Spain. Where Spain was, I have no idea. Apparently it's the primary language in Mexico and the United States of America's secondary language. Judging from the maps scattered around the room I could tell that Mexico was located under the USA, and was fairly close to California, where I was. I made a mental note to locate a full map of the world, of Earth, so I could find where Chicago was. Where Gray was.

The bell, the wonderful, melodic bell finally rang and I almost cried from happiness. _"Lucia,"_ the teacher call for me and I felt the déjà vu, was this how it was going to be for every class?

"Yes?" I responded to my newly given Spanish name.

" _En español."_ she frowned, though I have no idea what that meant.

I stared blankly at her until she sighed a little, "I want you to take these practice worksheets," she handed me a handful of papers, "And make notecards out of this vocab list," she plopped a packet onto my pile. "There will be a quiz on Friday so take this study guide." she let one last sheet of paper float onto my stack.

"Oh, thanks." I replied blandly and walked out the door.

" _De nada, hasta mañana."_ she replied in more of the Spanish that I couldn't understand.

I stepped into the already familiar bustle of chatting students and sighed, heavily. My head was beginning to hurt and I was surprised that I could remember my _own_ name.

"Lucy."

Yes! That was it, I smiled at my non-Spanish name. I mindlessly wandered into the flow of people before coming to a halt, did someone call for me, or was that just my imagination? Turning around, I saw the one and only Dylan Chase. There was just no getting rid of that boy.

"Okay, stalker alert, why are you still here?" I walked back to him and crossed my arms. "Were you waiting for me the _whole_ time? Did you even _go_ to lunch?"

"I told you, I already ate it earlier." he shrugged, "And besides, I'm trying to avoid certain people."

"Funny; so am I." I turned away yet again and began to walk.

Dylan caught up, much to my disappointment. "You have one more class left."

"I do."

"And I've got a feeling that _you_ don't know where it is."

" _So?_ I'll figure it out. You don't have lunch anymore, so you can't follow me around this time."

" _You_ were following _me,_ remember?" he reminded me, "Now you lucked out; we have your next class together."

"A class with _you?_ Again?" I groaned, "How would you know that, anyway?"

"A little sheet of paper told me." he held up my schedule in-between his fingertips.

"Hey!" I made a grab for it, but he held it out of my reach. "I need that!"

"No, you don't; you had two," he countered. "I took it upon myself to lighten your load of paper. By the looks of it, you've got a lot."

I shuffled around my Spanish homework and tucked it into a folder before sliding them into my bag. "Okay, well where is this class of ours? _What_ is it?"

Dylan led the way, again, for I still had no clue how to navigate in this school. "APUSH," he stated.

"A push? What do we do, combat?" my ears perked up and I got excited. Sure, a world without magic could be a little boring, but fighting was still a big hit! **(A/N pun intended)**

He laughed again, I frowned upon how he was laughing _at_ me. "AP US History," he clarified, "An advanced class in which you learn about the history of the United States."

"Well then that must mean you're smart," I blurted, "I find that slightly hard to believe."

"You wound me." he feigned hurt, keeping that stupid grin on his face. "The room is just down the hall, Mr. Buchannan isn't that bad though—"

"Dylan!" A feminine, obnoxious voice interrupted whatever he was about to say and the both of us turned to see an energetic girl bounding towards us.

My first impression: she is _not_ following that dress code I was warned about. An exaggerated, white V-neck top was transparent enough to see the outlines of her black, lacy bra underneath. And her short shorts, well, I didn't know that denim underwear existed but here they were. Her bare, tanned legs gave an illusion that they were long, but the girl stood just below my nose and at Dylan's shoulder. Thick, chestnut waves bounced to her mid-back and hazel eyes that almost looked golden sparkled through her long, makeup enhanced lashes.

"I missed you at lunch!" she smushed herself on his arm and I caught how he flinched back a fraction of an inch. This must have been who he was avoiding earlier. "Where were you?"

"H-Hey Les, I was just helping out-" I widened my eyes at his green ones, silently begging him not to bring me into what I knew would be a disaster. I've read the books. "Lucy." he finished, apologetically, and I wilted a little bit before smiling softly. She couldn't be that bad, maybe she was even nice.

The girl's nose wrinkled slightly. Not nice. "I've never seen _you_ around before."

"She's new," Dylan jumped in and I glared at him. I could speak for myself. "Lucy, this is Leslie. Leslie, Lucy."

"What, like that old TV show?" she barked a little laugh, saying it a little more harshly than Dylan had earlier. "How do _you_ know Dylan?"

"He was showing me around."

"Oh, _was_ he now?" she faced Dylan accusingly, "What _exactly_ did you show Lucille?"

"Lucy." I corrected, but she ignored me.

"She was lost. I helped her. And now here we are, end of story." Dylan blew out, "Jesus, Les, you've got to stop pestering me."

Leslie pouted, "I'm just worried, Dyl."

I tried not to laugh at his cornered-mouse expression, I really did, but a small snicker escaped and Leslie focused all of her attention on me. I coughed, trying to disguise the laugh, but she wouldn't back down. "I don't know who you are, or what your game is but-"

A bell dinged several times. The minute bell.

"Would you look at the time!" Dylan exclaimed dramatically, "Sorry Les, but Lucy and I have APUSH next, wouldn't want her to be late on her first day!"

And with that, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from the now fuming girl. She looked like she'd kill me in my sleep and I walked faster. "Is she your girlfriend?" I smirked.

Dylan tripped a little and made a strangled sound, "No, though I'm sure she'd like that."

"She called you 'Dyl'," I snickered again, not bothered with trying to hide it this time, "Like a dill pickle."

"Not funny." He turned into a classroom and I followed, assuming that was our next and final class for the day.

"Looks like you're in a bit of a… pickle." I couldn't help it, I covered my mouth with my hand so I wouldn't burst out laughing. Normally, it was Happy who cracked the bad jokes, must have rubbed off on me. The thought of Happy drew out a sense of longing in me, but that was interrupted when Dylan grabbed my hand.

I yanked it back.

He moved to take it again, but I shuffled away. "What's with you?" I eyed him suspiciously.

"Your hand," he pointed to my right hand with a curious expression.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"The tattoo, it looks…really cool."

'Really cool' didn't sound like what he had actually wanted to say, but he held back for some reason. I flipped my hand over and smiled at the familiar Fairy Tail insignia, the pinkness of it reminding me of Natsu. Natsu…where was he?

"It's Fairy Tail's symbol." I said quietly.

"Fairy Tail…where is that exactly?"

"I…it…uh," Should I make up a random place? I most certainly couldn't tell him the truth: 'Hi, I come from another universe in which magic is bountiful.' Yeah, I can't see that scenario ending well. "Chicago?" It was the only other place I knew of this place, other than Mexico and Spain, but it was obvious I didn't know a lick of Spanish.

"Chicago." he repeated and I nodded in confirmation, "You're from Illinois?"

Illi-what? " _No,_ I said Chicago." As soon as those words left my mouth, I instantly knew it was that wrong thing to say.

If he didn't seem convinced before, he most definitely was on high alert now. Just then, the bell rang and the students milling about reluctantly slid into their assigned seats, including Dylan. Saved by the bell.

"Ah, you must be Lucy." A man who didn't look old enough to be a teacher, maybe in his mid-twenties, greeted me from the front of the classroom. "Welcome to APUSH, my name is Mr. Buchannan."

* * *

 **.:Denver, CO:.**

"Gajeel!" A small, blue-haired figure yelped from where she stood, eyes squeezed shut.

"No," the woman in from of her frowned. "I said Abby. Ab-by. With two B's."

"What?" The bluette opened her eyes to find that she stood behind a counter, the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee filled the room and the door jingled as more customers walked in. "Where am I- what am I _doing?_ "

Looking down at her outfit, she found that she had on an employee's uniform for a place called 'Starbucks'. On her shirt was a clipped nametag that read **Levy**. The woman who spoke earlier made an annoyed sound, "Um, my venti iced caramel macchiato?"

Levy was still in semi-shock, wondering what exactly was going on. She was not partaking in the S-Class trials any longer, that much she understood. What she _didn't_ understand is why and how that glowing orb had transported her to this place.

"Can I take a break?" Levy asked the co-worker that stood by her that was stuffing change into a cash register.

The other employee looked from Levy to the ever-growing line of customers, and back to Levy again with unrelenting eyes. "Please." Levy pleaded with her best doe-eyed expression.

After a heartbeat, the barista sighed with a reluctant nod. "Five minutes, I can't take 'em all at once. What was that, miss? A macchiato?"

Levy said a brief thanks before stepping away from the counterspace and out of the small shop. "Where's Lis-chan?" she spun around wildly, looking for any signs of her white-haired friend. What is- oh."

Her jaw dropped slightly as she got a good look at where she was. It seemed to be a downtown area, with similar joints to Starbucks, as well as other companies lined the streets. Vehicles that looked a lot more advanced than the SE-plug ones that she was used to cruise by. What really surprised her were the magnificent mountains that towered in the background.

"Beautiful," she murmured. "But not…not Earthland. I don't know what it is, but something about this place doesn't seem…right." wondering aloud, Levy roamed the streets, temporarily forgetting about the strange job she'd been forced into and her fellow co-worker that was probably drowning in orders.

People milled about, many of them with their heads down, looking at small devices wedged in their hands, it seemed like some type of communication method. Something in her employee outfit's pocked buzzed and Levy took it out for inspection.

It was a device just like all the other she had seen the people using. Sleek, and with a display very much like the lacrima ones back home. On the screen popped up a message that looked urgent, as it was in all caps:

 **WHERE DID U GO? LIKE TEN TWEENS WALKED IN AND IM ABOUT TO DIE OVER HERE! COME BACK OR UR GONNA GET IT FROM THE MNGER!**

A second later, the screen changed and the device let out a little ringtone and buzzed again. Apparently someone was trying to call her, Levy's suspicions were confirmed; this was a communication object. Wondering what to do, she touched the green circle and heard a tiny voice. Levy stuck the device up to her ear so she could hear better.

"Levy where did you- ah yes! Your hot chocolate will be ready in a- oh, you wanted a pumpkin spice? Sorry, they're not in season right now. LEVY!" the familiar sound of her co-worker's voice panicked through the line.

"Hello?" Levy spoke cautiously, "Can you… can you hear me? I'm not speaking into a random object like a crazy person, am I?"

"Levy, what the hell are you talking about? Get your butt over here or I'm gonna-"

She didn't get a chance to hear out whatever her co-worker was about to dish out on her, for the call was rudely interrupted by a gloved hand that clamped down hard on Levy's mouth. _"Mmph!"_ her eyes widened and the device fell from her hand, crashing to the sidewalk and leaving the screen with spider-web cracks.

Another arm wrapped around her small waist and dragged her to the curb. Levy's legs kicked out and she wriggled her arms underneath, desperate to get free. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw a shady looking van parked on a corner. That must be where her captor was taking her. Could this have been set up by the S-Class trials? It was highly doubtful; Levy did the one thing she was able, for some reason, she couldn't script anything.

She bit down on the hand that covered her mouth, despite the gloves, and her captor let out a gruff yelp and nearly dropped her, but that was enough. With all the force she could muster, Levy directed her entire being onto the man's foot and he cried out again and loosened his hold. She pushed him back into the vehicle and he collided into it, leaving a sizable dent she didn't have time to comprehend.

This was her chance, she hopped away and sprinted off, hyper aware of a second and third man jumping out of the ominous, white van. She sped off, faster than she'd ever gone before. Down and down the street she went, subtly noticing how the area was less dense with people than it had been a moment before. In an attempt to lose the men, she made a turn down an alley, an alley that ended with a ten-foot high brick wall decorated with barbed wire at the top.

Dead end.

She spun back around, ready to make an exit, but there stood the three men, clad in black, blocking her only way out. They began to slowly walk down to where Levy stood, and she was suddenly at a loss for words, unable to scream. Calling to her magic, Levy felt nothing and her mind instantly went to Gajeel, where could he be? No, she had so face the danger head on if she ever wanted to get stronger.

Stronger. Faster. Braver. Smarter.

Those words echoed in her mind as she faced the men, they chuckled when they realized that Levy had the nerve not to be afraid, as if she could take the three of them down. She couldn't, she knew that, which is why she had to be smart about escaping.

Looking once more to the wall, she made a quick calculation in her mind of the amount of speed, time, and force needed for her to utilize the nearby dumpsters as a steeping stool to get over the fence. It would be near-impossible, it _is_ impossible for someone like her. But the adrenaline in her veins got to her head as Levy launched into action.

Sprinting towards the trash, she made a running jump and landed gracefully atop the large green bin that was several feet higher than herself. Her attackers looked up to where she stood in surprise, but she wasted no time as she pivoted back towards the wall. Bending her knees and channeling enough momentum that would carry her over the barbed wire, Levy leapt.

It worked.

Arching just above the sharp tips of the wire, she landed on the asphalt with one hand and knee braced on the ground, the other knee bent and her head flipped up. She made it. She was safe.

"The hell?" One of the men could be heard from the other side. "Well what are you waiting for? Go find another way and grab the girl! I'm sure as hell not coming back empty handed!"

Levy took off again, in search for a temporary safe spot, not bothering to notice the cracks that webbed around the site she had landed, chunks of road broken off.

* * *

 **Wow! That strength and speed demonstrated by Gray and Levy is astonishing! Surely no** _ **normal**_ **person could have done that. Looks like longer chapters have unintentionally made an impact early on in this fic. So now we got Lucy in California, Gray in Chicago, and Levy in Colorado…who could be next? Feel free to make location suggestions—though I've already got 'em all planned out.**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out.**


	5. Earthquake

**Daily updates make happy readers. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 _ **.:Denver, CO:.**_

Looking left, right, up, and down, Levy slinked her way around the city, avoiding any attention. She would occasionally almost run into her hunters, but she evaded them, for now. When thinking of a safe spot to find, the first thing that came to mind was a library. Libraries are always safe and you're bound to find one, no matter the place.

"Aha!" she let out a breath when she spotted an impressive building that read 'Denver Public Library'. So the place she was in was called Denver, interesting. Checking her surroundings once more, the blue-haired script mage sprinted over to the safe haven and managed to slip through the doors unseen.

The interior was as carefully structured as on the outside, unique styles of architecture that Levy hadn't seen back in Magnolia, or anywhere in Fiore, really. Scoping out the place, she was delighted to find thousands of books for varying genres. Science fiction, fantasy, romance, historical, it was a bookworm's dream. There was even a section for movies and music!

"Search for answers now, revel in heaven later." Levy reminded herself and tore her eyes away from the Young Adult section. After going up a flight of stairs, she was met with rows and clusters of unfamiliar objects. People sat in desks and stared at the lacrima-like monitors dazedly, while their fingers occasionally tapped on the board in front of them.

Hiding behind a bookshelf, she observed closely at one of the users, and gathered that it was a place to locate information. Perfect. Levy found her own monitor and board and then her attention caught on a sign in front of the room. **COMPUTER LAB.**

"Computer?" Levy examined the computer, tapping on the lettered keys on the board and pressed a button on the monitor. The black screen came to life, much like the communication device she had earlier. Levy had been comparing these devices to lacrimas, but it was now that she sensed no magic coming off from the computer. It was something…other.

Reaching for her own magic again, she still came back with a disappointing nothing. With a sigh, Levy set out to explore this strange place; the answers at her fingertips.

* * *

 _ **.:Ashbury, CA:.**_

 _ **.:Lucy's POV:.**_

The final bell rang and I felt the tired atmosphere of students shift into something that of excitement and relief. The school day was over. I slammed my American history textbook shut and mulled over the newfound facts that floated in my head. People here were horrible; enslaving others and treating them badly just because of the color of their skin? _Really?_ I'm not saying that Earthland doesn't have flaws; there were powerful magicians that abused the non-magical centuries ago, but according to Mr. Buchannan, the discrimination amongst races still continues on today!

For the humans here, that's slightly _in_ humane. I was deeply troubled enough with this situation, that I hadn't realized that the class had emptied, even Mr. Buchannan. I guess teachers want to get out of here just as much as everyone else.

"Didn't realize you loved school so much that you'd hate to leave," Of course, Dylan hadn't left. He hovered by the door with an eyebrow cocked.

"I was just thinking," I hurried to pack my things and stood. "About how horrible this place is."

"I _did_ say school is like a prison," he sighed and followed me out the door.

That's not what I was talking about, but I didn't breathe anything else about the subject. It wasn't just the magic that we didn't have in common, there were social structures and ideas that people fought for— fought against—that I would have never even considered back on Earthland.

"I gotta catch my bus," Dylan announced and began to follow other students that walked faster than usual. "Wouldn't want to miss it. Again." and with a chuckle, he was gone.

"See ya later." I said quietly, suddenly feeling very, very alone. Bust mostly lost. Did I have a bus to catch too? Where would I go now that the school day is over? Questions rolled around in my mind before I finally decided to hunt down wherever the main office was and figure out what to do next.

Retracing my steps, it took only about ten years before I found the familiar door and stepped in. There were more people inside than the last time, but I waited my turn in line until I was face-to-face with the kind receptionist—Mrs. Wilde—from before. Though before I could even open my mouth to ask a question, she spoke in that honeyed voice of hers,

"Oh, there you are! Your parents called earlier, they should be here any minute now! Just have a seat over there, hm?" her wrinkles crinkled around her eyes as she smiled.

 _Parents?_ My previous worries left me as this new information slid in. I have _parents?_ Images of my mom and dad popped into my mind as my legs slowly made their way to one of the lounge chairs, my eyes pricked with tears.

"Oh, and, Lucy dear?" Mrs. Wilde called out to me and I looked at her. "If you ever need anything, _anything_ at all, you can come to me, ok?"

I think I nodded, I wasn't sure. _Parents._ My heart began to thud a little faster and I started to feel…hope, was it? I could have a mom and dad again, I'd belong to a family and— no. I shook my head, clearing away the thoughts and hope that came with them. The 'parents' of this world didn't belong to me, they may _look_ like Layla and Jude, but they weren't _mine._ Maybe this was parallel like Edolas, I had no idea, but I had to remind myself that _Fairy Tail_ is my family now. Fairy Tail will _always_ be my family; I had nothing else.

And that's why I had to find them.

"Lucy?" a soft voice asked as the office door opened with a tiny jingle.

I looked up, hesitant at first, but then noticed that I had never heard that voice before; it wasn't my mom's. Standing at the entrance was a small woman in her late-forties. She had mouse brown hair pulled back in a thick ponytail with tightly coiled, natural curls. Her skin was dark like caramel, and her eyes a light hazel in contrast to my dark brown.

This was not my mom. I stood anyways.

"Oh, there you are," she smiled and held out a hand, gesturing for me to leave. "Mark is waiting in the car."

Mark? Does she mean my _dad?_ I was too bewildered by how she _wasn't_ my mom. I had been preparing myself not to jump into her arms at the sight of blonde hair and brown eyes, and wasn't sure what to feel anymore when I was met with this woman. "How was your first day?"

"Uh," my tongue felt thick and heavy, I cleared my throat. "Good."

"Did you make any friends?" she held the door open for me as we exited the building. I was met with a wave of heat and a small part of me wanted to retreat back into the cool building. "Any enemies?" a mischievous glint in her eyes told me she was joking and I summoned a small laugh.

"No, no one like that," I think. The memory of Leslie and her cattiness came back to me. "But I _did_ meet a friend, I think, his name is Dylan Chase."

My fake-mom laughed, it reminded me of bells, "I knew it, boys would be _chase_ -ing you around."

Did she just…did she just make a pun? I stared wide-eyed at her as we make our way to a silver vehicle. It reminded me of the SE-plug cars back on Earthland, but since magic didn't exist here, I had to assume it ran off of technology.

"I'm sorry," she opened the backseat door for me and I slid in, unsure if it was a trip or not, she closed it shut and got in the shotgun seat. "My husband _adores_ puns."

'My husband', I noted, not 'your father'. So these people really _aren't_ my parents? Not just my Earthland parents, but not here on Earth either?

"Oh come on Adelaide," the man who was sitting in the driver's seat shoved my fake-mom—Adelaide—slightly before starting the car. "You know I _despise_ puns." I barely made a sound as it pulled out of the school's parking area and soon enough, we were driving on the roads of Ashbury, California.

"He loves me, I swear it." she smiled at me through the review mirror and I managed one back.

"So, how was your first day? You didn't run into any trouble, did you?" the man—who I assumed to be Mark—eyed me through the mirror as well before turning his attention back on the road.

"Oh please, we know Lucy's a good girl." Adelaide scoffed. "A good girl who's found a good home with us. I can only imagine good things, even during the bad times."

"Your optimism is killing me," Mark replied, but I could tell he didn't mean it. "As your foster parents, I can only _hope_ that you're good, at least until you're eighteen."

From the back of his head and the small mirror up front, I could tell that Mark was just about as old as Adelaide. His probably normally dark hair had streaks of gray in some spots, though there wasn't any balding present. His skin was lighter than hers, though not quite as pale as mine, but close enough.

"Foster parents," I whispered. "Not my real parents."

We had orphanages and adoptions back on Earthland too, and now this scenario all of a sudden made sense. Adelaide and Mark must have taken me in, why me? No clue. But they seemed to be nice enough guardians and I was glad I didn't have to face copycats of my real, deceased parents. They talked like that, back and forth making jokes, and I let my mind stray towards what was ahead of me.

"Do you think we could stop by Chicago?" I asked, tentatively.

At first I wasn't sure if they had heard me because of the silence that followed, but then Adelaide laughed and shook her head. "Lucy, what do you mean? Chicago is _thousands_ of miles away!"

Thousands of miles. My shoulders slumped and I kicked myself for thinking it'd be that easy; of course Gray would be near-impossible to reach. I covered up my reaction with a weak laugh, "Yeah, sorry, I was just thinking of visiting Lake Michigan."

"We've got the _Pacific Ocean_ here," Mark shrugged. "That's way better than any lake you'll ever see."

We continued down a road and I looked at the houses as we passed. A lot of them had the same stucco walls and reddish tiled roofs. Palm trees grew in their lawns, probably thriving off of the heat, as well as a few oak and maple. Soon enough, we pulled into the driveway of a similar house and a large door _lifted,_ the car rolled inside.

I opened the door, glad to see I wasn't locked in, and followed the couple indoors. The inside was as nice as the outside, an open kitchen with a large opening into a sizable family room. I decided to explore more of the place later, scope out all the exits and entrances.

"Dinner is at seven," Adelaide opened a large metal box that stood higher than myself. Inside, cold air wafted out and a bright light shined on the food stored inside. She hauled out what looked like a raw chicken and set it on the counter. "We're having rotisserie tonight, Lucy, your favorite."

"Mhm, sounds good," I agreed, I _have_ always had a taste for chicken. Though, Natsu loved it more than I ever have. "I'm gonna go…to my room."

Mark now sat at a table and shuffled through a handful of letters, "Have fun with that homework."

I was going to say something back, but I nearly lost my balance when the floor—no— the _whole house_ began to shake. What was going on?! I was sure that the building was going to collapse on us, the world was coming to an end!

"Just an earthquake," Mark chuckled at my paler-than-usual face and Adelaide had braced her hands on the counter-top. "Only a little tremble."

And just like that, it was over. Earthquake. That word was so simple and fitting, yet it hardly grasped the sensation of fear that had spiked through me. Mark and Adelaide didn't seem fazed at all by the world _literally_ moving; it seemed like a regular enough occurrence for them.

"We've got everything that needs to be bolted down secure," Adelaide informed me as she prepared the chicken. "No need to _chicken_ out over it."

They let me go on my way after that good laugh, and I found a staircase that led up to a hallway to five rooms. One was clearly a bathroom, very pristine with marble counters and tiled flooring. I didn't let myself linger for long; I took a peek at the other rooms. One of them was very large, a master bedroom, probably, not mine. Another one, much smaller, made me stop in my tracks.

It was painted powder pink, and had stork decorations on the walls. A crème wooden crib sat in one corner, with one of those dangly baby toys hanging out in front of it, slowly turning. A play-mat sat on the middle of the floor and stacks of markers, crayons, and coloring books were spread on a small, pink desk. What really shook me about the place is that everything was new, unused, and hauntingly empty.

I quickly stepped out of the room and slowly closed the door, leaning against it. Adelaide and Mark, they hadn't mentioned any other children and they _had_ to have decided to foster a child for _some_ reason. Maybe because they lost one of their own…or couldn't have one to begin with.

I didn't let myself go down that road for long, I moved on to the next room, which, to my delight, had shelves and shelves of books. Adelaide was a reader like me—or Mark. Moving on to the next and final room at the end of the hall, I had a Goldilocks moment and knew this was mine.

Lavender and periwinkle walls—thankfully not the same color as Baby Room—surrounded a room that was about the same size as my own room back at the apartment on Earthland. There was a wheeled chair that faced a large, white desk propped up against the wall adjacent to an arched window, giving me a view to the front street. The bed was, to my delight, slightly larger than my Earthland one, and had a comforter spread out that matched the walls. I was hoping for a bit too much when I opened the closet door to find it regular sized, not walk-in. The room seemed relatively unused, and I got the impression that I haven't been their foster child for very long.

I stood there and let my bag slide off my shoulders and onto the white carpet. What drew my attention was the black rectangle that sat atop the desk. Sliding into the chair, I managed to open it up and found that it looked very much like the technology I saw students using back at school. The screen lit up to display a **Search Google or type URL** along with the colorful lettering of said Google. This was a tool to gather information! I thought of Earth and all the things I didn't know, but first I had to know the _precise_ location of a certain ice-mage.

A search? That's exactly what I need.

* * *

 _ **.:Safari:.**_

"Gray-sama." A woman with blue curls staggered on the rocky terrain, against the sweltering heat. "Juvia needs…"

Juvia scanned the area again for a sign of water, but to no avail. There were unusual trees that gave little shade sparsely scattered in this desert-like place. Juvia had been here for what felt like hours, but was only maybe half of one. The heat leeched on her skin; her water magic was not presenting itself anywhere,

"Water!" Juvia brightened after another moment of wandering, spying what looked like a watering hole. This time, as she approached, it didn't disappear like the last time she had encountered a mirage. This time, she froze at the sight of lean, dog-like animals that had paused from their refreshments and turned towards Juvia.

The pack prowled towards her, slowly at first, but then picked up amazing speed when Juvia decided that the water wasn't worth it.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia panicked and ran away from the beasts with tears in her eyes. "Juvia is…Juvia is… _faster?"_

The hounds, with their lithe speed had somehow managed to fall behind Juvia enough for her to relax a little, while still running at full speed. Eventually, the pack grew tired and went off in search for easier prey. Juvia slowed to a stop, barely out of breath.

"Juvia may not have water," she commented to herself in wonder, "But she has something else."

* * *

 _ **.:Denver, CO:.**_

Levy frowned in sadness as she scrolled through the pictures of miserable animals. The website she was on asked for donations for these abandoned pets, money she wished she had to save these poor creatures from a life of neglect.

"No no, I have to get back on task," she chastised herself and clicked one of the many tabs she had opened up.

What Levy had gathered so far was that she was on a planet called Earth. Comprised of roughly 200ish countries on all seven continents. Unlike Edolas, magic was _completely_ nonexistent and considered a myth. The year was 2016 and she'd pulled up a map online to find out she was located in North America in the western USA. More importantly was the news article she found on a naked man that had emerged out of Lake Michigan, which was located _far_ from her.

"Gray." she had whispered when she saw the picture that had blurred out his parts. His Fairy Tail insignia was recognizable and she'd lightly touched her own identical one in white on her back.

Because the insignia had been so iconic, people have been looking into it more. The internet—a word she has learned to call this world-inside-of-computer—hadn't found anything about its origins, and for that she was grateful. Apparently, Gray has been arrested, she couldn't help but laugh at that part before the worry started to settle in.

What about everyone else? Were they safe?

Around this non-magical world, interestingly, have been environmental issues. Climate change, deforestation, droughts, and natural disasters have become common for these people. Back on Earthland, this could easily be solved with magic, but the humans here didn't have that luxury. The US government has been looking to improve the situation, along with other facilities in other proficient countries. Judging by the comments and articles, however, the citizens are calling BS and want their tax money back.

After another hour of what felt like relentless searching, Levy couldn't find anything on the men that were after her earlier, not that she had much to go off of. _Not_ knowing what was going on made her vulnerable.

"The library will be closing in fifteen minutes." the intercom went off and the people around her were getting ready to leave.

Levy looked out the window and a slow panic set in her stomach at the beautiful hues of pink and orange in the sky against that mountainous backdrop. Gentle signs of a sunset that would soon turn into nightfall, when the demons come out to play.

* * *

 **And that's a wrap! Speaking of, "That's a Wrap" is a very engaging, ten-minute long piece composed by Thomas Bergersen. You should check it out on YouTube if you're interested in instrumentals. Comments/Questions/Concerns/Critiques? Leave it all for me to take in the reviews!**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out.**


	6. Terrorist

**Be prepared for the longest chapter yet! I wasn't prepared, proofreading is hell. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 ** _.:Middle East:._**

 _"Gwah!"_ A pink-haired man fell onto the sand.

Fairy Tail's one and only fire Dragon Slayer, Natsu Dragneel, lay stranded in the middle of a hot desert. Pushing himself back onto his feet on the uneven ground, he searched for any signs of his partners.

"Happy!" The cheery blue Exceed was nowhere in sight, "Lucy! Luce!"

He distinctly remembered the horrifying feeling of seeing her disappear right in front of him. A thought popped into his mind that maybe, just maybe, she and Happy were buried under all of this sand. He began to frantically dig around him, deep enough that he found himself surrounded by cool sand that hadn't been baked for hours by the sun. No use, the rest of the sand slid back into place.

Natsu broke out into a sweat, both from the uncertainty of what was going on and the sun—the _damn sun_ —that showed no mercy. He was almost close enough to wishing that Gray was here with some ice.

"This is hopeless!" He growled and kicked a tuft of sand in the air. The wind changed direction and the bits of earth went back into his face, stinging his eyes. "Gah!"

Trudging on in the hellish sand dunes, Natsu kept a close eye out—when the wind _wasn't_ blowing—for any signs of Lucy, Happy, or basically any of the others that participated in those blasted S-Class trials. He was so close! Natsu cursed and looked up to the unforgiving sky, no clouds in sight. All he had to do was collect those stupid items and he would have been S-Class! Then he could move up the ranks, beating Mira and Erza, even Laxus and Gildarts!

"IS THIS A TEST?!" Natsu hollered out to no one in particular.

He wasn't expecting an answer, not a legitimate one, anyway. Natsu almost missed the girl that stood far away, but there she was! Lucy looked just about as miserable as he, probably complaining like she always did. Rent, being late, her hair, danger, those were all very Lucy-like things to complain about.

"LUCY OVER HERE!" Natsu's energy spiked and he clumsily sped over to where she was standing—or where he _thought_ she was standing. As soon as he got close enough that she'd might notice him, her figure shimmered in waves and disappeared. "Luce?"

She was gone again, just like on the mountain.

He let out another frustrated growl; even his eyes couldn't be trusted. Natsu didn't think to use his magic, what was the point? Spitting fire wouldn't get him out of this never-ending desert that crushed hopes. Hope Crusher—yes—that must be the name of this place.

After quite some time, a cloud of sand began to billow up in the distance, as if something at high speeds disrupted the calm. Natsu looked at it longingly before turning his head away; it was probably just another illusion. But then the object travelled closer, until it was just a black speck and soon enough, the shape of a large vehicle.

"Aha, I'm not letting you fool me this time!" He begrudgingly pointed his finger at the now recognizable outline of four or five tattered black jeeps that made no move to slow down.

Soon enough, Natsu decided that these SE-plug like things were real, and were here to help. "HEY!" He walked towards them, jumping up and down with his arms waving above him. "It's me the Salamander!"

It seems that he had caught their attention; the jeeps pulled up in a cloud of dust and sand, spraying more if it into Natsu's eyes. "Gah! Hey, what's the big idea?!" As he tried to clear his vision, he didn't notice the group of men that hopped out were armed with large guns.

They grabbed him by the armpits and hauled him off into their cars, but Natsu wasn't going down without a fight. "Ohoho you chose the _wrong_ day to pick with me. Whoever you are, get ready for my… _Fire Dragon's Claw!"_

Yeah, _that_ didn't work.

Natsu didn't learn from that first failure and tried out his roar, iron fist, wing attack, and more. His flailing arms managed to hit one of the gruff men in the eye, and the force knocked that captor to his knees. "Gahaha!" Natsu reveled in this small victory, despite the fact that he was _still_ a hostage being dragged off. "That'll teach you to mess with-"

One of the men shouted something at him. Natsu guessed that it was obscene, but the language wasn't one he understood. The man continued to slew unknown words at him though the black mask he wore before knocking the Dragon Slayer out with the butt of his gun.

Everything went black.

"I'm gonna…hit you with the…chicken." No longer in the sweltering heat of the sun, the pink-haired mage now sat half-asleep in a shabbily put together building. Made of wood and bent nails, the structure was about as big as a large closet. "Luce…that's not where you put the- _gah!_ " He sat straight up, fully awake as the echoes of "Lucy Kick!" faded from his dream.

"Where the hell am I?" He stood quickly and had to lean against a wall after a sudden headrush hit him. Blinking away his nauseated headache, Natsu squinted in the dark room; it must have been nighttime.

As he explored the vast amounts of weapons and artillery set out on a table, Natsu vaguely wondered who took him away. If he was their prisoner, why hadn't they tied him up? Not like tying him up would do them any good; he'd always just burn through the ropes and— that's right…his Dragon Slayer magic wasn't working.

Natsu tried to light a candle-like flame with his finger, but even something as small as that didn't appear. A loud boom and frantic shouts drew his attention momentarily, and he ran outside of the hut to see what was going on. It seemed to be something of a camp where he was.

About ten other half-assed buildings boxed in a couple of campfires that blazed. Fire…Natsu grinned, maybe he couldn't _produce_ his own, but surely he could _manipulate_ these flames. More shouting disrupted his thoughts and he saw some of the men that had captured him earlier on their knees.

A group of what looked like soldiers had taken over, binding Natsu's foreign foes so they couldn't escape, and even taking a few into their own camouflaged vehicles. One of the army men noticed Natsu standing there and forcefully grabbed his arm.

"Hey, Sarge! I got another one over here!" The man spoke the same in language as Natsu. Finally, someone who could tell him what was going on! "Ha, get a load of this! The guy over here has _pink hair!_ "

"My hair is _not_ pink! It's _salmon!"_ Natsu tried to shove away, but the man pointed a gun in his side. Natsu stopped, knowing that even _he_ couldn't withstand a bullet, especially if it was one like Azlack and Bisca's. "Who _are_ you? What am I doing here?"

"Looks like this one can speak English." Natsu was led to the back of the new group's jeep and thrown inside, his hands now bound in tight rope. His body slammed onto the tarped floor and his eyes adjusted to this new darkness. The soldier shut the doors of the back trunk, designed so that the top part was completely open for ventilation. "Welcome to your new life as a Prisoner of War."

* * *

 ** _.:Ashbury, CA:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

I stifled a sneeze as I walked through the main doors of Point Valley High School. It was my second day and I was slightly annoyed that yesterday hadn't been my last. After I had gathered and crammed all the information of Earth's geography, any information on Fairy Tail—all I got was that Gray's in jail, and some basic history and current events of the planet I've been stuck on, I had crashed on the bed that wasn't technically mine.

Adelaide had woken me up at the ungodly hour of six in the morning, and took it upon herself to drive me _back_ to the school I had managed to get away from. I hear this goes on until Saturday, which means I've got three more days to go. I _could_ have easily come up with an excuse to _not_ go to school so I could spend some more time researching. But then I remembered that a _certain someone_ inadvertently told me they were good with technology; I'm guessing they might be able to access the information that I couldn't.

Stepping into the now all-too-familiar main office, I asked the kind Mrs. Wilde for a map of the school. No longer will I be a helpless damsel lost in a sea of hormones. With my map and my bag, I still had another half an hour before school started at seven twenty-five.

Curses to Adelaide for getting me up far earlier than necessary. Good curses because she can make one heck of a breakfast.

I continued to walk in the halls and passed a locker bank. That reminded me, my schedule had a locker number complete with a combination, if only I could find it. That was another problem for another time; _I_ was on a mission to map out my entire schedule so I'd know _exactly_ where to find my next class. It _did_ unnerve me a little, though, that Dylan had the other copy so that meant he _also_ knew my locker combination. I shrugged, not like there was anything worth stealing in there, I think.

By seven twenty, I was able to get down the locations of all of my classes, as well as a full sweep of the building. Sitting down at one of the empty lunch tables, I proudly looked at my map, markings and all, but then the unmistakable bell rang.

School has started.

"What?!" I panicked and checked my phone.

Before going to bed last night, I played around with it enough to figure out that the passcode was my own name! The corresponding numbers to 'L-U-C-Y' were five, eight, two, and then nine. Whether that was self-conceited or genius of my non-self to think of that, I hadn't dwelled on it.

The clock displayed on the locked screen was **7:20**. "But the bell? Did I get the times wrong? Shoot, I'm gonna be late!" I got up in a rush, but then a hand on my shoulder pushed me back down into the seat.

"No, you're not," Dylan Chase sat next to me, looking down at his own phone, "That's the five minute bell."

"What about the _one_ -minute bell?"

"There's that too; you can never be too safe I guess," he shrugged, "The five-minute bell is only for the start of the day, though."

"Oh." My panic from earlier left me and I wondered what could possibly be so bad if I was late? "Oh! I know my way around the school now!" I beamed.

"Do you, now?" he smirked at me before frowning, attention on his phone.

"Yup, I've got it all mapped out here, see?" I pulled up the paper with my routes all drawn out, ensuring my survival. "That means _I_ don't need you anymore. Oh! I need your help with something," I quickly recognized the irony of what I just said, but went on with it anyway. "You said you were a master at hacking stuff?"

Whatever was on his phone must have been really interesting and troubling at the same time because I got no reaction. Okay, whatever, I could silently brood on my phone too. I flipped out the touchscreen device and expertly typed in the code.

My phone instantly opened up to a game I had grown slightly addicted to, Piano Tiles. Tapping the screen faster than Laxus' lightning ever could have gone, the one-minute bell brought me out of my zone. With a sigh, I clicked off my phone, slid it back into my bag, and looked over to Dylan. I had expected him to still be glued to the screen, but instead he was looking at me.

"What, was the music too _distracting_ for you?" I smirked.

"No…" his eyes drifted back to my tattooed hand and I noticed how his brows ever so slightly knitted closer together. "I mean— get some earbuds or I'm throwing that thing in the water." He grinned annoyingly, but still seemed slightly off.

I hid my hand behind my back and stood, his eyes flicked to mine. I stared into those pale, green and calculating eyes, wondering what exactly had him on edge. Something was definitely bothering him.

"Well, I'll leave you to it!" I hiked my backpack up on my shoulders, waving goodbye when my back was to him. I made sure to use my left hand. "See ya later."

I'd let him figure whatever was on his mind out on his own. I wouldn't push on it.

"Um, _excuse_ you," an unsavory voice from behind me piqued up a little after I had left the lunchroom. "I don't appreciate slow walkers."

I turned and was not delighted to find that it was Leslie. She wore a slightly less inappropriate attire than from the day before, but her analyzing gaze was still the same. Her hazel eyes squinted back at me, flipping her dark hair out of her face, she cast an annoyed glance at one of her friends. They traveled in a pack.

"Is _this_ the girl you were telling us about?" One of them looked me over.

" _Yeah_ , she-"

"Oh _gosh_ would you look at the time!" I had no desire to be late, nor did I feel like dealing with Leslie and her crew. "Wouldn't want to be late! Talktoyoulater, _bye!_ "

And with that, I took my opportunity to duck out of a mess _before_ it started. I pulled out my map again and followed the path that led me to the auxiliary gym, first period: physical education.

* * *

 ** _.:Denver, CO:._**

Levy groggily shifted into a sitting position as she heard someone jiggling the door handle. Once the library had closed, she discovered that the keys to the Starbucks she supposedly worked at were sitting in her pocket. Using that to her advantage, she waited until she was sure the store was closed, and then slipped in to stay for the night.

Now realizing she was about to be discovered, Levy jumped up and tried to make herself look presentable enough, like she hadn't been sleeping on three hardwood chairs for the past seven hours. The person from the outside managed to get in, and she recognized their Starbucks uniform.

"Holy cheesecakes!" The older woman jumped when she saw Levy half-hiding. "Levy, why are you here so _early_?"

"Oh, uh, I felt bad about leaving so early _yesterday_ so I thought I'd come in early _today_ and…prepare."

"Yeah, well, I've got bad news for you." The woman took a white envelope out of her bag and slapped it on the counter. "Here's your monthly pay, you preferred cash, right?"

She was giving Levy money? "Oh, thanks!" The bluette gingerly took the thick envelope, "I'm sorry about yesterday! I was sure I'd get into trouble or something but-"

"Oh, you're in trouble alright." The woman got behind the counter and started up some machines. "I'm letting you go."

"Y-You're what?"

"Fired. Late on many occasions, early to leave for an equal amount of times, customer complaints, I just don't think you're cut out for this kind of work, Levy." The woman, whom Levy now assumed to be a manager of some sorts, shrugged. "It is what it is, tough world. Don't look so sad, here, have a complimentary drink for the morning!"

Levy slid onto one of the tall stools at the counter and took a peek into the envelope, there was a wad of green bills that would surely be enough to live off of, for now. Levy sighed in relief and looked out the window, the pretty pink sky meant that the sun was just about ready to come up.

"W-Wait," Levy called out. She'd just remembered that the library opens at ten in the morning. If the sun was _just_ rising, how was she supposed to hide from the goons that were after her before? "How about I work here, for just a _little_ while longer?"

"Levy," the manager frowned, "I told you-"

"I don't care if I don't get paid or anything!" she interrupted. "I just…I'll miss this place and it'll be my final way of saying sorry. I can leave at ten if you want."

The manager stared at her for a moment before sighing, "Fine, there's no harm in that…I don't see why not." She slid a capped drink down the counter to where Levy was, the manager had been very generous with the whipped cream. "Enjoy your drink."

Once the manager had left Levy to fend for herself—as a "final test" of her abilities—she felt very awake after her drink, and started her job. _What_ Levy was doing, she had no idea. There were so many beans and cups, machines and flavors, Levy couldn't decide what was what or how it created something so flavorful. Not to mention energizing.

Thankfully, not that many people came around until seven o'clock, and her co-worker from before started the shift then too. "Oh," the other barista had greeted Levy. "I thought you'd be fired by now."

"Technically, I am," Levy smiled. "I decided to stay until ten, for old times' sake."

"I don't get it," her fellow employee expertly knew how to work the grinders and everything. "You've always complained on how much you _hate_ this job, now you want to _stay?_ And for no pay on top of that."

After Levy simply brushed it off by saying she liked the company, the two of them worked—well, Levy _tried_ to—as waves of customers came in. When it was ten o'clock, Levy bid her farewell to her temporary friend and tried to draw as little attention as possible when heading back towards the library.

Once back into the computer lab, Levy had a new objective: finding a place to stay while she was here. However, as soon as she opened up the browser, the homepage displayed today's news and it was very eye catching.

 **BREAKING NEWS: The Naked Man that emerged out of Lake Michigan in Chicago as seen on live television yesterday afternoon, is suspected to be affiliated with the SISI terrorist group of the Middle East. Earlier today, reports form the US Army have released this photo of one of their suspected members, found in an enemy camp.**

The picture that showed up was grainy, but undeniably Natsu; she could spot that pink—sorry, _salmon_ — hair from a mile away. What also could be seen was his red Fairy Tail insignia by his right shoulder, uh oh.

 **This symbol had originally been assumed to belong to a gang of some sort, as the Naked Man had not provided any information on that matter. Now as we see this mark on another criminal, there is no coincidence that these two cases are indeed connected. If you or anyone else sees someone with this tattoo, please call the hotline below.**

A clearer sketch of Fairy Tail's insignia was posted onto the website, along with a phone number. Levy's throat went dry, _terrorist?_ This had to be cleared up before someone got hurt, or even killed. With this new information, Levy ditched her plans to look for housing and further investigated the SISI group that the news page had mentioned. What she found out didn't help her situation at all, she would have to be a lot more careful from now on.

Speaking of careful, a set of alarms went off, making her jump in her seat. What was going on now?

"This is a hard lockdown." The intercom went off, the woman's voice on the other line sounded slightly shaken up. "There are armed men in the building, police are on way. Be on high alert, lock all doors and stay out of sight."

 _Armed men._ Levy's blood rushed in her veins and she frantically looked for something to protect herself with, but there were only books. The men from the street yesterday, it was _surely_ them now. Knowledge is power, but not in this situation, Levy paled and even more so when she realized there _was no_ door to lock. She would have to make an escape.

* * *

 ** _.:Chicago, IL:._**

"Looks like they're not quite done with you yet, Naked Man." Gray inwardly cringed at the nickname people had given him during his time in jail.

The bars to his temporary holding cell swung open as the guard unlocked the door and moved so Gray could step out. What did they want this time? His first and last interrogation had been relatively straightforward. Who was he? Where did he come from? Why was he naked? What did his tattoo mean? To all of these he responded as "None of your business." Which earned him more solidarity.

The guard walked him over to the interrogation room, sat him down at the table, and cuffed Gray to one of the legs. As the door shut behind the guard, Gray lazily turned his head towards the mirror that was undoubtedly two-way.

"What do you want _this_ time?" He sighed and rolled his neck. "I was takin' a nap."

The door buzzed and the man that came through it was different from his last interrogator. This one seemed more…official. With a crisp suit & tie, the man pulled off his dark sunglasses and tucked them into an inner pocket. He had brought a manila folder with him and began removing the contents.

"Ah," Gray tipped his chair forward and leaned on the table with his elbows. "So you've decided that I'm worth more looking into. I _am_ a pretty popular guy."

"Do you know this man?" He slid a slightly blurry picture forward, but Gray had no interest.

With an aggravated scoff, Gray looked away. "I don't have time for this. Look, you've made a mistake and I've got places to be." Though, curiosity eventually got to him and the ice-mage reluctantly took the photo in his hands.

 _Flame Brain._

"Never seen the guy." Gray flipped the picture back onto the steel table and leaned back. "Why, did he hurt your feelings?"

Slipping out another picture, Gray could tell that is was himself as he was being arrested. His open shirt flashed his Fairy Tail insignia; now he dons a plain prison outfit that he disliked very, very much. "The two of you share the same tattoo," the official commented, "We have reason to believe that you and this man are working with the SISI group of terrorists."

 _"Terrorists?"_ Gray scoffed. He'd been called many things, but a terrorist was a new one. "I have no idea what you're talkin' about. I don't do that stuff."

"Then what _do_ you do?" The man inquired, pressing on. "I cooperate with both the FBI and CIA, not necessarily a part of them, but the US government has enough to reason to believe that you are a _threat_ to the American people as well as citizens residing in other countries."

"I _told_ you, I don't-"

"We will be transporting you to a different, _higher_ facility that will ensure the safety of those around you." The man stood, collecting his things. "It is suggested that you harbor no information from us; it will be discovered one way or another, however painful it may be. Same goes for your accomplice and any other of your followers that show up."

Gray thought to Natsu and what that hot-headed idiot was up to. By the looks of this, he'd probably be in no better situation than himself. Natsu couldn't have been the only other one who had shown up in this place, there's got to be others and Gray couldn't risk their safety. He'd either be confined by the government—tortured and prodded—no doubt would they discover that he wasn't your average person.

He wouldn't let that happen; he was a Fairy Tail mage.

"I'll leave you to think about that," the man cast one more look at the cuffed prisoner. "I'd be smart about this, if I were you."

Oh, he'd be smart about this alright. Gray's lips curled and he stared directly at the mirror, through the glass to the other side. "You can't hold me forever."

* * *

 ** _.:Ashbury, CA:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

Dylan wasn't in my sixth period AP Language and Composition class. I stared at the empty desk in front of me as the teacher droned on about how to properly structure an essay.

Gym was unexpectedly not that bad; I normally dreaded physical exertion when it wasn't magical training. Today, we had something called a 'Fitnessgram Pacer Test', basically all we had to do was run back and forth a bunch of times whenever a bell dinged. After a while, people started to heave and wheeze, looking like they were about to pass out with their faces all red and muddled. _I,_ on the other hand, felt _great_. Barely breaking a sweat, I made it to something up in the hundreds when the bell had rang—to say the least—the gym teacher was very impressed.

Next, I had what was 'Honors Physics', which was _completely_ ridiculous if you ask me; magic could have easily wiped out for the necessity of such mundane classes! I heard that in this world, nothing could be created or destroyed and I thought back to the countless times when Fairy Tail and other mages would casually create and destroy like it was nothing. Then I was met with an _equally_ unnecessary class called 'Calculus', arithmetic was never my forte, and I've never found its use back on Earthland.

Fourth period was, to my delight, a pastry class. _Not_ to my delight, I may have tripped the fire alarm. After that little scare, I had fifth period lunch. I wasn't really that hungry, due to the excitement of my first _real_ day of school, which was stupid; I had more _important_ things to worry about for my _real_ life. I spent that time in the library, not on the computer, but exploring the wonderful books that _weren't_ back on Earthland.

And now here I was in sixth period, no Dylan Chase in sight. I distinctly remembered him here before school this morning, when he was partially ignoring me. Maybe whatever business he had to take care of got him out of school? Lucky bastard.

I was just walking through my Spanish class' doors when I realized that I had not done any of the worksheets the teacher had given me yesterday, and made sure to make myself appear as small as possible so she wouldn't notice. Miraculously, I managed to slip past her eye by the time the bell had rung, but I still had that upcoming quiz on Friday.

For my last period of the day, AP US History is I found was probably my favorite. Not because of what looked like a heavy workload or the academic conversations, but how I could learn so much more of this new world, even if it was just a single country. By the looks of it, America seemed pretty important all on its own.

I hadn't expected to see Dylan; he wasn't in English after all. And sure enough, he wasn't there by the time class had started. Maybe he was off fraternizing with Leslie, I hadn't seen her for the rest of the day either. No matter, I could learn on my own, in undisrupted peace.

Or so I thought.

Halfway through the class, a grim looking Dylan walked into class with a pass in his hand. He set it on the teacher's desk and walked to his seat. I beckoned for him to make eye contact, but when he did, he was even more distant than this morning.

What on _Earth_ could have possibly gotten him this…different? Maybe this was just how he _always_ was, maybe the Dylan from yesterday was all just an act— which I _highly_ doubted. I snook occasional glances every now and then, just to see if he was okay. But I guess he didn't need any reassuring as he was goofing off with one of his neighbors. It was _me_ then, well _that_ was stupid, what could _I_ have done?

My slight irritation with this situation was at its peak when the bell rang and students prepared to go home. Before I could march over to his desk and fume, he'd already gotten to where I was. Looks like he had something to say; too bad because so did I.

"Mr. Chase, I would like to have a few _words_ with you." I glowered at him and he sat backwards in the desk in front of me.

"No, you don't _deserve_ that." He responded in a colder-than-usual tone.

"I don't- what are you _talking_ about?"

"Explanation. Now."

He held out his phone and I took it, scrolling through a news article he had pulled up. What I came across was _not_ what I was expecting. Natsu and Gray as _terrorists?_ And the guild mark, everyone was keeping their eyes out. My mouth ran dry as I looked at my own pink insignia and then to Dylan's unforgiving glare.

He thought I was a terrorist too.

* * *

 **Ooh, suspense.**

 **Noticed what I did there with the "SISI"? Yeah, I'm just taking full precaution measures; wouldn't want any government interference on a harmless fanfiction, am I right? Leave your thoughts in the reviews, every one of them makes me grin stupidly!**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out.**


	7. Gang

**Happy Tuesday! I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 ** _.:Ashbury, CA:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

"Okay, hold up," I laughed nervously, "This is _not_ what it looks like."

"Oh, but isn't it?" He accused. "You show up the same _time_ as these terrorists, you bear the same _mark_ as they do, and then this morning you ask me _to hack into something!_ " He made several good points. "Now tell me why I _shouldn't_ be dialing 911 right now. Who are you really, Lucy Heartfilia? If that's even your name."

"It _is_ my name!" I protested, "My name is Lucy Heartfilia. I belong to the Fairy Tail guild, not the SISI terrorist group or anything radical like that!"

"Really? And what kind of guild _is_ Fairy Tail, exactly? I'm guessing that thing on your hand represents it, must be important."

"It's not-" I was about to say that Fairy Tail _wasn't_ dangerous at all, but that wouldn't be entirely true. "It's a-" I also couldn't very well declare the existence of _magic;_ Dylan didn't appear to be in a very believing mood. "Look, can we go somewhere else? Like maybe the library or something?"

He stared at me, as if deciding whether or not I could be trusted. Eventually, he nodded grimly and stood, beckoning me to follow. As we walked in a painful silence, I noticed that the halls had cleared up considerably.

"Shouldn't you go catch your bus?"

"What, you plan on blowing up the school once I'm gone?"

"Dylan! I would never-" my phone buzzed and saw that it was a text from Adelaide. "Oh, it's my mom."

" _Sure_ it is." He made it clear that he thought I had an ulterior agenda in mind. Probably one of my fellow terrorists waiting for my signal to take out the president or something.

"It says that she," I opened and read the text. "She'll be running a little late, won't be picking me up for another twenty minutes." That should be enough time to convince him that I'm not set out to kill everyone, right?"

" _Or_ maybe it could be _code_ for something else," he pushed the library doors open and I followed to an empty table. "I'm _this_ close to calling your bluff and alerting the police. So talk."

"Okay, well…" I fidgeted, trying to figure out to sound as sane as possible. It appears that there was no way getting around the truth, so the truth I would tell. "Fairy Tail is a guild for…for mages."

He opened his mouth, clearly about to call me out on a lie but I wouldn't let him.

"Now before you say anything, I know that it sound impossible for magic to exist in a world like this. But where I come from, it's a part of everyday life."

"And _where_ do you come from?"

Thus began my hesitant story revealing something that sounds like it came out of a fantasy novel. I spoke of the magic types, guilds, battles, and creatures that he'd never be able to even imagine. I also took some time to explain how I had gotten here, and how my friends are just in the same situation as me. We must have been dropped onto Earth at random, and were just misunderstood.

"Now I'm thinking that I should be calling a mental hospital instead." Dylan rolled his eyes. "Do you _honestly_ think I'd believe this crap? Magic? What are you, _four?_ "

"Dylan," I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to get him to understand. "I don't…I don't know how to get you to believe me on this, but I _need_ you to! Remember earlier when I freaked out about the Sabertooth tiger mascot earlier? That's because there's a magic guild, just like mine, called Sabertooth. Thing is, they're a lot nastier and _very_ powerful."

"So are terrorists."

"And remember when I was so awed by just the notion of technology? That's because technology doesn't _exist_ back on Earthland, we don't need it because we have magic!"

"And what exactly, pretending that I'd fall for this, _is_ your magic?"

"I can summon celestial spirits."

He was a little slow to give me a reaction, but after a few minutes of him silently laughing, I got the idea that my magic seemed like a joke to him. Which irritated me a little bit. Just a little.

"Seriously? That's the best you come up with? You could have at least made up something cool like Avatar related water bending. Instead, you choose to tell me you believe in horoscopes and whatnot?" He leaned back in his chair.

"No, I-" I realized then that I still didn't have my keys _or_ magical whip, so none of what I was saying could be proved. I had still been unable to locate where they'd gone. Maybe this world repelled my magic? If so, then the others might have been rendered powerless like myself, no wonder they'd managed to be so easily captured. Still, I couldn't bear to be separated from my spirits.

"Think about it," I huffed, out of ideas, "Why would I, your _average_ teen girl, be a terrorist? What would I gain? I'm not even sure how the bombs of this world work without magic! I wouldn't know the first thing about politics and I find the violence of this world to be completely horrible."

"These are all just words," he scoffed. "You're trying to get into my head, trying to give me a reason _not_ to call the cops."

"Then why don't you already?" I ask him. "It's because you know, deep down, that I'm harmless. Look, if you could just help me-"

"Help you?" he laughed. "Why on earth, or as your delusions would say, Earthland, would I _help_ you?"

"To prove that I'm innocent! To prove that my friends are innocent! The naked one in Chicago? That's Gray Fullbuster, he's the worst when it comes to keeping his clothes on, but he's also an amazing ice-mage! And the one with the pink hair? He's my partner, Natsu Dragneel. Probably the most infuriating, helpless person, but also one of the strongest people I've ever known." I breathed deeply. "They're all innocent, like me! And more are probably out there, lost and confused like I was before."

Dylan seemed to be contemplating this, and hope flickered inside of me.

"You've helped me before, not even knowing who I was." I whispered. "I'm just hoping that you'd be able to see the truth in my words, no matter how outlandish they might sound. I'm hoping that you'd help me once more."

"And what am _I_ getting out of this?" He asked after another moment of contemplation. "How do you even know if I _can_ help you?"

"I remember you said you could hack into the Twitter or something."

"Social media isn't the government, Lucy."

"But can you do it?"

He lowered his voice and sketchily looked around. "I…yes, but it's not something I advertise."

"I knew it!" I half-whispered, he looked at me questioningly but I shrugged. "Something just told me you were that smart.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere."

"As for what I have to offer you…nothing really." I sighed. "Yesterday wasn't just my first day of school, it was my first day of Earth. I'm just…I'm just trying to find my friends and a way to get back home."

My phone buzzed again and Adelaide said she was here, waiting in the car outside. "Oh, I gotta go, my mom's here." I stood and made for the exit. "You don't have to give me your answer now, I can wait."

And before he could reject me, I had left. Though, a faint "See ya later." could be heard as I rounded the hall, so I took that as a good sign. On the drive back to the house, Adelaide kept going on about grocery sales or whatever, I kept my thoughts focused on the fact that I was living this high school life when Natsu was being held as a prisoner.

He could be being tortured, or maybe worse.

He could be dead.

I shook the thought away as soon as it had come up; I've seen Natsu in action enough times to believe that it was nearly impossible to kill the fool—magic or no. Once we arrived, I went to get some water that magically—sorry—technologically dispensed from the fridge. Even though the fridge didn't have a reservoir of water inside, I checked!

Mark was in the living room, watching his favorite show, Criminal Minds. During the commercial break, he must have switched to the news; I heard my least favorite word of the day, terrorist, for what felt like the bajillionth time. I cringed and peeked over to the cover story.

The reporters were droning on about what I had found out about earlier. How Naked Man and Pink Hair were somehow involved with SISI, and that their insignias were perhaps of code relating to the terrorists. I looked to my guild mark again and sighed, this would have to be covered up before anyone else found out.

As I opened kitchen drawers, in search for a bandage of some sorts, the news story changed slightly and my ears perked up.

"We have new information of yet another individual, suspected to be involved with SISI." The woman, Jane Doe, announced.

A video came up and it looked to be some sort of sport's field. Players were running around on the bright green grass with white markings as they kicked a small, spotted ball around. The sports announcers were shouting in some foreign language that sounded suspiciously like Spanish to me.

"Earlier today in Salvador, Brazil, a woman who bore the new mark of SISI appeared in the middle of a soccer match." The video screen flickered, as if there was some kind of disruption with the connection or camera, and then there was indeed a woman standing in the middle of the soccer field.

She was then inadvertently tackled down by a player who hadn't noticed her appear out of seemingly nowhere, and by the time she managed to scramble back up, security guards had surrounded her. My breath hitched as I moved closer to the screen, recognizing the woman's light brown hair, her glasses slightly askew, and revealing dress.

But most noticeable was the green insignia on her right breast; her outfit did a poor job of hiding it.

"Oh no," I murmured, watching as the security guard hauled away a very confused and slightly outraged woman. "Not Evergreen."

"Luckily, no one was hurt and the radical was removed from the premises. We are now being told that she is being detained for questioning. Brazil's own FBI, the PF, will be likely involved with the United States' CIA in this related case." Jane went onto a different story, regarding landslides.

"You can never be too careful, nowadays," Mark grunted from where he was on the couch. "These SISI people are unpredictable, I'll certainly be on the lookout for anything suspicious in these parts. Lucy, you be careful too."

"O-Of course," I walked back to the kitchen before seeking out the privacy of my own room.

My guild mark would definitely have to be hidden from now. I could only hope that there had been no one else other than Dylan that noticed what I had in common with these 'terrorists'. When it came to Dylan, I also stayed on alert in case any police sirens came too close.

* * *

 ** _.:Denver, CO:._**

The library plunged into a deathly silence once the intercom lady had left. Of course, libraries were _supposed_ to be quiet, but this silence came packed with the promise of danger. Levy stood, frozen and listening for the sound of heavy boots by the computer lab entrance.

She stepped out and peeked around, seeing that the area was clear, she sprinted several feet over to a library cart and hid behind it. She went on like this, running and hiding behind objects until she'd make it out of the doors and be free. As she approached the main desk, the head receptionist could be seen quivering slightly from underneath.

Levy made eye contact with her and put a finger to her lips, then she pointed towards the door. The librarian shook her head violently, disagreeing with Levy's surely suicidal plan, but that wouldn't stop her. There was nothing left to hide behind, so the bluette decided to make a run for it and she was almost there, but then something caught her eye.

She had stupidly managed to get distracted by a captivating book cover, almost reaching out to the inside cover, yearning for the synopsis—but then a gruff voice alerted her that she had taken too long. She'd been discovered.

"She's over here!" The one who had originally tried to throw her in the scary white van approached. He was a giant, and ginger sideburns added to the scary factor of his malicious expression. "The little bunny tried to escape."

Quick thinking. Quick thinking. Quick thinking. Levy's eyes darted for something—anything—to protect herself with, but there were only books.

"You're not getting away this time," he laughed at her obvious peril, "I know someone who'd pay a pretty penny for you."

Fear and adrenaline shot through Levy as she grabbed a hardcover and chucked it at his head. The man dodged it easily and laughed at her feeble attempt. She hurled more novels at him to the point where his humor morphed into annoyance. Great.

"Come here you little wench," he had cornered her to an area with no exit. Just shelves and shelves of stories and a bright window that cast ideal, natural reading light. "Looks like you're running out of places to hide."

By now, his two other lackeys wove through the bookshelves and Levy inched closer and closer to the window. A big dictionary on an even larger podium, stood next to a globe of Earth. Levy's head pounded with her erratic heartbeat as she made the decision to grasp the dictionary and launch it, with all her might, at the window. She let out a breath of relief when the book didn't harmlessly bounce off, but instead, shattered the glass.

Before the three men could register what had just happened, Levy had hopped out of the broken window, avoiding any glass, and made another run for it. The streets had more people than the last time she was being chased, but that didn't stop the men from coming after her.

Levy made twists and turns around the confusing streets of Denver, Colorado. She cursed herself for not looking more into the map she had found online, it would have been helpful if she had known where to find, for instance, a police station.

Her luck ran dry once more when she found herself stuck in yet another alley. Except this time, there was no brick wall for her to scale, this was a cemented building with the only steel door to get inside of it being locked. Levy pulled hard on the handle; it didn't budge. She slammed her fists on the door, but only ended up denting it a little.

No one was coming so save her.

"You can't escape now," the leader from before prowled towards her and Levy smushed herself as close to the building as possible. "Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide."

"She's give us so much trouble," the one to his right, with a torn leather jacket and stinking of cigarette smoke, spoke. "Maybe we should have a little _fun_ before turning her in."

Turning her in _where_? She barely skimmed that thought when the possibility of them touching her invaded her mind. She scanned the area and swooped low to pick up a discarded bottle of beer.

"St-Stay back," She smashed it against the building and half of the bottle shattered, leaving deadly shards at the end. "I _will_ hurt you."

The men stopped and looked at each other before bursting out in brutish laughter. Slapping their knees and each other's backs, none of them took her seriously.

"I'd like to see you try, _Shrimp!_ " The one to the left wiped away a tear and flipped out a switchblade.

Hearing him call her 'Shrimp' really, really irked her. Only Gajeel called her Shrimp. If Gajeel were here, he'd probably laugh in the way that she loved it and beat them to a pulp. Thinking of him brought out a new sense of bravery in her and Levy tensed, ready to strike out.

"The chick is really going to try protecting herself, Hank, can you believe it?" Lackey #1 cackled.

"Mess with a member of Fairy Tail," Levy's voice came out fierce, though her hand began to shake slightly. "I dare you."

"It was cute before, but I don't have time for your games." The leader—Hank—pulled out a small gun and aimed it at her.

Levy suppressed a squeak, she couldn't fight a gun with a _bottle_. This wasn't fair! She almost announced the injustice in this fight, but quickly realized that's what they wanted her to do. They wanted her weak and helpless. Hank pulled the trigger, much to Levy's surprise and utter horror. She had thought that it was just a scare tactic!

A bullet hole smoked only inches from her feet and Levy jumped away, causing the men to laugh. Hank shot at the ground again and Levy was mortified at their little game. That is, until the steel door she had so desperately tried to get into before, swung open.

"What in the loving god is happening out here?" A man burst out and she quickly decided that her situation was now made worse, not better.

This man was also big, also tough, and also looked like he ate broken glass for breakfast. Tattoos ran up his arms, exposed by his ripped, sleeveless black tank. It seemed as if not a single square-inch of skin was spared from ink, crawling all the way up to his neck. His face bore a thick beard and mustache, but that was the only dark hair on his head as his scalp had none.

"You." New Guy's eyes narrowed in on Hank's little trio and the three flinched back a little. "I told you to stay out of our territory."

Oh sweet baby Mavis drizzled with maple syrup, Levy was about to be in the middle of a gang fight.

"We were just on our way out," Hank stood firm. "Just had to pick up what was ours." He nodded over to where she stood, her whole body now quivering.

"This little lady?" New Guy raised a brow at her small figure, barely acknowledging her before turning back to Hank. "Doesn't look like she wants to be taken."

"Do they ever?" Hank licked his lips when his eyes landed on Levy again. "No fussing about this, just bring her here."

"Are you telling me what to do?" New Guy stepped forward, revealing several other gang members that looked like they were itching for some action. "Do I look like the type of person to be bossed? I'm going to tell you, and I'm only going to say it once. _Leave_."

"But the girl-"

"Don't make repeat myself, _boy_." He narrowed his eyes and Hank got the message.

With one last snarl in Levy's direction, Hank and his men sauntered away from the alley and out of sight. Levy didn't allow one muscle in her body to relax, however; she had a newer, bigger problem to deal with. "I didn't see anything, or hear anything." She pleaded with her eyes. "I was never here and I promise I won't say anything."

"What's she going off about?" One of the men asked.

"Little lady," the one who had chased of Hank approached her, she backed away. "Do you have a place to stay?"

Nononono, no way in Tartarus was she dong anywhere _near_ these people, much less _stay_ with them. Sure, they had somewhat rescued her from the situation, but she couldn't expect that they were _good_ people. She'd just have to lie her way out and hope that they'd leave her alone.

"Y-Yes." She choked out.

"No, I don't think you do." He frowned and she was seriously afraid that he'd snatch her away and Levy would never see daylight again.

"I…I…l-live just o-ver ah…where the…" she couldn't manage to form a coherent sentence and the man seemed to notice how intimidating the situation might be for someone like her.

"Hey," his now less-gruff voice spoke, "We don't molest little girls like you. Scratch that, we don't molest girls at _all_. That's not the kind of thing we got going on here. And we don't let other people get away with that stuff either, if you need a place to hide out for a while…"

Then what kind of thing _do_ they do? Illegal things, she bet. Maybe they sold body parts, or stole pets, or maybe they sold the body parts _of_ stolen pets! She didn't know who these guys were; she couldn't have trust in any of them.

But then, where else would she go? Surely, Hank was still lingering around somewhere just waiting for her to pop up again. She couldn't run away forever; she had to find somewhere secure.

And that chance stood right in front of her.

"Y-You sure you wouldn't do anything _weird?_ " Her small voiced quipped. "A-and I could leave whenever I wanted? What's the catch?"

"We won't hurt you, promise. And I'm not asking for anything. Punks like them have been a plague for a while now. I'm Blade, by the way." Blade? Like the sword? "Yeah, I know about the name. It's just the kind of thing we do here."

Levy was still incredibly unsure if she was sane since she was considering his offer of safety and possible protection, and all with no strings attached. She decided, after a mental battle with herself, that she would go. She'd accept Blade's hospitality, for now, and then plan her next move.

* * *

 ** _.:London, England:._**

"Man!" Elfman nearly fell onto the red velvet carpet, but he leaned on a very nice chair to steady himself. "Where am- what happened to- wow."

Elfman took a seat in the velvety, cushioned chair gilded in gold and looked around him in awe. This was the type of room fit for a king. Fit for a real man. The red and gold was a recurring theme in this spectacle of a room; scarlet draperies framed gold-rimmed windows and sparkling chandeliers hung above from the high ceiling.

" _Really_ man." Elfman breathed, almost forgetting about what was going on just moments before. Right, the S-Class trials, and more importantly— "Evergreen!"

His shout was followed by several more and once one guard caught sight of the half-naked muscle man sitting atop of Prince Philip's throne, the term 'all hell broke loose' would be very accurate. Within a minute there were nearly one hundred guards, some wearing silly garb, but most in black, tactical suits with guns aimed at poor Elfman.

"Hey!" He shouted, only causing the guards to cock their guns. "This is not very man of you! I just got here and-"

Soldiers swarmed him, binding his arms, cuffing his hands, searching his pockets. Elfman struggled through it all, he shouted for an explanation.

"WHAT DID I DO?" he hollered, but was only gagged in response.

Soldiers shouted commands at others. Calling for a lockdown and a full sweep of the building, and the commotion didn't go unnoticed. Soon, media vans were up to the gates and cameras flashed as the armed men dragged Elfman to the back of an authorized vehicle.

"Please! Tell us what's happened with the situation in the Buckingham Palace!" One of the reporters pushed forward and was ignored. "Is the Queen safe? What of the royal family?"

"Who was that man?" Another reporter came closer to the van and the paparazzi behind him had cameras flashing off all over the van. "Was he sent to kill the Queen? Is he an assassin?"

"Calm down!" One of the commanding officers in charge of holding back the people shouted. "The Queen and her royal family are safe. This is but a mere hiccup, our perimeters are secure at all times. It is unknown how this man managed to-"

"Why does he bear the Mark of SISI on his neck?" Someone had interrupted, using the phrase that many have adapted to using. "Are there any more of them here, in London? Have the terrorists targeted us?"

"Are we safe?" Someone in the crowd shouted.

"We need answers!"

* * *

 ** _.:Chicago, IL:._**

"Congratulations, you're getting out." The watch guard opened Gray's cell then held out cuffs. "Of course, then you'll be walking into an even bigger den."

Gray nonchalantly walked to where the guard waited to cuff and escort him to whatever higher facility they had planned for him. He didn't care, though; he had other plans in mind. Once he got close enough to the man, Gray grabbed his shoulders and then rammed the guy's head into the metal bars. The guard, of course, wasn't expecting this. Gray had made sure to make small talk every now and then about casual things. He'd never shown a display of lashing out before, and was pretty sure the man deemed him harmless and let his guard down.

He was right.

The officer rolled around, groaning. Gray wouldn't give him the chance to sound any alarms and swiftly apologized after another blow to the man's head. The guard stopped moving, but Gray made sure he was still breathing.

"That was Phase One," he sighed at the sight of his unconscious watcher. "Time for Phase Two: the escape."

Gray didn't doubt that there were people waiting for him to show up in cuffs, or that the next shift would start, and he didn't want to be the only one the police were after this time. He'd make sure they'd have their hands full.

Already, the monitoring guards were running at him, and the other prisoners pressed their faces up against the bars of their own cell to watch the spectacle. Gray had swiped the keys of his unconscious guard and ran over to the control pad near the exit he had overheard a few officers discussing. It wasn't hard for him to guess which button unlocked every cell in the facility.

The other guards seemed to realize what he was up to and increased their speed, but it was too late. Gray slid the key into the slot and turned, the cover over a sizable red button flipped open. He slammed his palm down on it and a loud buzz sounded as every single barred door swung open.

The prisoners stepped out slowly, cautious at first. They looked around at each other, and then to Gray with enlightened smiles. The whole lot of then whooped with joy and the too few guards readied their weapons, primarily in defense. With all the fuss and commotion of more guards rushing in and the retaliating criminals, Gray managed to slip out, unnoticed.

He had originally planned to immediately dart out of the first exit he found, but after coming across the room holding everyone's belongings, Gray couldn't help but find a change of clothes as well as some money that'd help once he was rid of the jail.

Refitting the baseball cap atop his head, Gray walked as a free man through the front doors. He gave a nod to the receptionist who didn't even notice him; she was too busy alerting others of the situation.

"I'm sorry sir, but all of the prisoners are loose and- yes sir, yes I understand that Naked Man could be- sorry! We just don't know his real name and- of course, I'll be right on it."

Gray chuckled and stepped out once more into the Windy City.

* * *

 **Okay so, so far we've got:**

 **Lucy – California**

 **Gray – Illinois**

 **Levy – Colorado**

 **Natsu – Middle East**

 **Evergreen – Brazil**

 **Elfman – England**

 **Is that too confusing? When I write, do you get confused at all when it comes to the people and places? I try to make it simple, I really do. But if I need to do a better job, then feel free to let me know because it would only be helping yourself!**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out!**


	8. Salty Dill Pickle

**Top two words that the red squiggly line always has to point out to me: Schedule and Business. I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 ** _.:Ashbury, CA:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

"Bye, Lucy!" Adelaide called after me as I exited the car. "Have fun at school!"

I waved goodbye and smiled as she drove away from the school drop-off area and then walked up the path to the building of education. Ugh. I glared at the sky, now showing hues of lilac as the sun peeked low over the clouds; Adelaide was still insistent on waking me up unnecessarily early every day.

Last night, I had kept a very close eye out for any police or government activity lingering outside of my window, but it was to my relief that it seems that Dylan hadn't decided to reveal my secret, yet. I had slapped a large Band-Aid atop my right hand, to keep anyone from figuring out that I had the 'Mark of SISI' as people had started to call it. On the morning news, it said that another member of the group had infiltrated the Buckingham Palace; the clip was brief, but I saw enough to know that Elfman had arrived as well.

I hope he wasn't giving anyone man insults.

Today, I decided to check out that locker of mine so I could relieve some of the back pain that I was experiencing. If this world could store so much information into their technologies and internets, then why couldn't these damned heavy textbooks exist online too? With minimal searching, I had managed to find my locker where the majority of the juniors hung out every morning, made sense.

Problem is, I couldn't seem to get the combination right. I twisted and turned the dial so that it would match up with the printed numbers, but the locker wouldn't budge. Slinging my bag onto the floor, I cracked my knuckles in preparation and tried again.

Still nothing. I banged my head on the metal frame and sighed.

"Trouble?" My now least-favorite voice piqued and I turned to face the one and only Leslie Graham.

She was without her usual pack of friends today, so maybe she wasn't out to get me. We hadn't talked much at all and I wasn't bombarded with insults or shoved around as I had expected I would. I started to think that maybe Leslie wasn't as bad as she let on, but then again, only time could tell.

"Hi Leslie." I readied myself to brush off whatever she had to tell me.

"Don't even _bother_ trying to pretend," she scoffed at my attempt of peace. "Dylan told me _everything_."

Dylan _what?_ My eyes widened and my heartbeat halted, he _told her?_ What was she going to do, _blackmail_ me? Turn me in? Would she tell the others? Maybe now that she thinks I'm a terrorist, I could scare her into not saying anything. No, that would only make me just as bad as an _actual_ terrorist. I had gotten my hopes up that Dylan wouldn't spill my secret of bearing the Mark of SISI—which is a really stupid name—and the fact that I was a possible terrorist.

"D-Did he now?" I clutched the strap of my bag, prepared to run. "And what do _you_ have to say about it?"

"It doesn't _scare_ me if that's what you mean." She laughed and I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or even more uptight. "What, did you seriously think I _wouldn't_ notice?"

She _wasn't_ afraid of me being a terrorist?

"You're _totally_ crushing on him!"

Hold the phone.

I— what?

"He's complained about how much you've been following him around like a lost puppy or something, like, _puh-leaze_ , could you be _any more_ transparent?" She rambled on and I was still trying to grasp the fact that she wasn't suspecting me of countless murders in the name of political goals. "Like, ok, I know he's hot and all, but Dyl is mine."

"Wait-"

"Gosh, he came to me yesterday and I can't _believe_ you made him miss his _bus_ like that!" She growled as if I had bombed the continent. "Leave him alone, he's clearly bothered by you. Go find someone else to pine after because we've been together for, like, years."

"Leslie I don't think-" I _distinctly_ remember him saying something along the lines that she _wasn't_ his girlfriend, not that it mattered to me anyways. I'm just glad there was a misconception that I was some love-struck heroine rather than a life-threatening radical—I wasn't either.

"If you want what's best for him, then leave him alone." It appeared that her rant was coming to an end, so I let her continue. "I know it's tempting to just be friends with him, but don't hurt you heart."

"Ok, you got me." I faked a defeated sigh. "How could I _possibly_ compare to someone like you? You're _obviously_ so perfect in _every_ way, of course 'Dyl' would be in _love_ with you!"

I tried not to gag on my words; she seemed skeptical of my show at first, but I could tell she was soaking up every word and enjoying my false praise.

"Good, I'm glad we've had that settled then." She sniffed. "And here, let me help you with your locker; you're having trouble, right?"

She wants to _help_ me now? This girl is doing so many one-eighty's on me, I'm not sure if I could keep up. Though, if it seems to her that I'm no longer a 'threat' to her 'relationship' then she'd have no reason to pester me. I read off the locker combination on my schedule sheet and she showed me the correct method to turn the knob. Why'd they have to make it so confusing?

Once Leslie had gotten the locker open, she reminded me once more of what was hers and would never be mine, and walked on her merry way. I laughed to myself as I unloaded the ginormous textbooks from my bag. _Me,_ crushing on _Dylan!_ I tried to keep my silent laughter at a minimum, as to not arouse suspicion that I was in need of a mental hospital.

I _did_ entertain the thought, though, throughout the day. Was Dylan 'hot' as Leslie had put it? I'm not saying yes, but he did have some very attractive assets. By the time sixth period had rolled around, I'd decided that if he didn't jump straight into a modeling career, he could be 'the guy next door'. But also the guy being a stay-at-home dad fathering the two children he and Leslie had manage to raise.

Dylan had shown up to English class this time, and I was slightly curious as to _why_ he had told Leslie the things he had. He knew that I wasn't love-struck, and he _also_ knew that I was a _literal_ undocumented alien that could easily be thrown into a prison cell.

"Dylan." I whispered as the teacher announced today's agenda.

"Yes?" He replied, though slightly wary. I then remembered that he hadn't given me the answer if he agreed on helping me or not. He could always decline and leave me be, or decline and call the police. His choice, my action.

"Leslie talked to me earlier." I informed him and he groaned. Aha! So he _did_ tell her those foolish things!

"Lucy, I can explain-"

"Yeah, I have a _total_ crush on you." I jokingly went along. "Really, Dylan? I've known you for what, two days?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Leslie told _me_ that _you_ told _her_ that I was, and I quote: following you around like a lost puppy."

He frowned. "I never said that."

"You didn't?" It was my turn to frown. "Then how did she know you missed your bus because of me?"

"All she knew was that I had missed my bus, not _why_."

"Then…then what _did_ you tell her?" I thought for a beat. "And how did she know it was me?"

"Miss Heartfilia and Mr. Chase, if you could please stop your shameless flirting and pay attention to class." The teacher stopped Dylan from whatever he was about to say and a good portion of the class snickered at us. I turned red at just the notion, we were _not!_

"Oh, that's right." Dylan grinned once the teacher decided it was time to pick on someone else. "You _did_ confess your undying love for me just now, didn't you?"

I mentally smacked myself. "I was joking. Long story short, Leslie's a liar."

"Yeah alright babe," he winked and I wanted to slap him as well. In what situation could I possibly have feelings for someone so…so…

"Ugh." I leaned back into my chair and massaged my temple. "Nevermind."

"No, _do_ go on," he was nearly laughing now and I was regretting ever asking for his help. Oh, right! The whole hacking-into-government-property to clear my innocence was still out in the air. "Tell me more."

"So is it a yes or no?"

"Accepting your confession? Well-"

"Not that you salty dill pickle," I looked around for any eavesdroppers and lowered my voice. "The whole SISI thing."

"Did you just call me a 'salty dill pickle'?" He focused on the less important of the two.

 _"Dylan."_

"Okay, okay," he chuckled. "I'll do the thing."

"You will?" A wave of relief passed over and I smiled brightly at him. _"Really?"_

"I, uh, said I would, didn't I?" He scratched the back of his neck, as if I were making him nervous or something, though I had assumed that I gotten through to him that I _wasn't_ a danger.

"Look," I held up my bandaged right hand. "Now people can't tell."

His jaw dropped at the sight. "Jesus, did you burn it off?"

"What?!" I gasped at just the idea. "I would never! I just covered it up."

"Phew," he let out a breath. "You can never be too sure what weird things you aliens are up to."

"I'm a mage. M-A-G-E." I rolled my eyes and looked back to my hand. "I was thinking of just wearing a glove, but that'd be too weird. For one, it's too warm—who only wears _one_ glove anyway?"

"Sometimes if you're in a gang people do that." He shrugged.

I shuddered slightly, imagine being accused of both terrorism _and_ gang involvement.

* * *

 ** _.:Denver, CO:._**

Levy was officially in a gang.

Blade had given her a tour of the building and was almost _instantly_ introduced to the two-dozen members of what he called the 'Blood Waves'. Blade had assured her that the name was more for intimidation purposes, and she had let him know that it was very effective. He still wouldn't let her in on what exactly Blood Waves _did_ , but she wasn't really complaining so long as she was away from Hank.

Everyone there had an equally bizarre name. Ranging from Juggernaut to Needle, they all called each other by some weapon of choice. She'd been all kinds of nervous at first, but then settled in after a few hours. Blade had kept true to his word and no one laid a hand on Levy as she explored parts of the Blood Waves' lair.

The building was only three stories, and the first floor comprised of a bar-like area with some restrooms and storage areas. On the second floor were the bedrooms, Levy assumed that the place had maybe been a motel once upon a time. The third floor was—as she was told—where they did their 'business'.

"What's your name?" Blade had asked her as she sipped the only non-alcoholic beverage they had to offer at the bar—water.

"Do…Do I tell you my _real_ name, or something like yours?" She had asked.

"Whatever you feel is best." He'd shrugged.

"Then I'll say…" she thought for a moment, searching her mind for inspiration. "You can call me Mage."

And just like that, she was accepted in as one of them. Though, she wasn't sure exactly _how_ she fit in. Some of them played billiards, others nearly drank themselves away, and sometimes a random fight would just break out. She'd smiled with a pang of longing because of how Blood Waves resembled Fairy Tail so much—minus the heavy language and tattoos.

By the time it was nightfall, she was starting to feel all kinds of tired from the past two days, and Blade had let her use one of the rooms upstairs. She'd scanned it thoroughly, locked the doors, and shoved a dresser up against it for good measure, before crashing on the bed.

Today was now a new day and Levy felt particularly grimy for not having a change of clothes or even the availability of a toothbrush and toothpaste, _surely_ they had dental care here on Earth. She'd rinsed her mouth with water and had gone back downstairs to where now two of them lay passed out in a booth and three others hung around the bar. Not everyone had spent the night, she noticed.

"Is there any food here?" She asked tentatively, not wanting to interrupt conversation.

"We don't serve food here." One of them responded gruffly and she winced. "You'll have to go out and find something."

 _But Hank could be waiting for me._ Levy didn't voice her thoughts and merely nodded and slowly made for the door. She had money, she could buy food easy. Unlocking the deadbolt, she stepped into the familiar alley from yesterday and nearly walked into Blade.

"Whoa there, Mage, where you going?" He steadied her shoulders from nearly toppling over in surprise.

"I'm gonna get some food."

"You sure those guys from before won't show up again?"

"Uh…"

"Do you got a way to contact us in case they do?"

Her memory flashed back to the phone that had shattered on the sidewalk when she was first taken by Hank. "Not exactly."

"How did you survive out there on your own for so long?" Blade breathed. "I'm not going to pry, but you sure there ain't anyone you can contact? You're not a _runaway_ , are you?"

"The opposite, really. I've been trying to find some of my…friends."

"They here?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Well, I'm sure we can get one of our guys to look into it."

"Really?" Her spirits lifted. "You guys are good with computers?"

"Well, we run part of our business online and have to keep certain things secure. So yeah, we're good at that kind of stuff." Again, he didn't mention _what_ their business was, but Levy didn't care anymore. She could find out where the rest of Fairy Tail had landed!

"Oh…thanks!" She accepted his offer. "I probably couldn't be much of any help here though, all I can do now is…read stuff."

Blade surprised her with an unexpected hearty laugh. "It's good you kids are still reading nowadays. I was afraid the Wi-Fi was getting inside all of your heads. Technology really takes a toll."

Levy's stomach grumbled in response and she shyly laughed it off. "Well I guess I'd better get something to eat."

"Hey, how about I go with you? Katana! You up for some grub?" Blade called over to one of the more oriental looking members and Levy was afraid he'd kill with that glare.

"It's okay, you don't-"

"Don't worry, he likes playing bodyguard."

And so, Levy had bodyguards.

* * *

 ** _.:Chicago, IL:._**

Gray checked out of the motel he was staying at as fast as he possibly could. The guy's jacket that he'd stolen from the police department when he made his escape had a wad of cash stuffed in one of the pockets and Gray needed somewhere to spend the night. And now that he was out of that dingy box of a room, he was ready to get the upper hand on these military people. He just wasn't sure _how_ , yet.

Nobody recognized him as he walked down the busy streets of Chicago, not even as he slipped into a breakfast shop where lacrima-like screens displayed the daily news and events. He'd assumed it was because everyone had known him as 'Naked Man' and know that he was fully clothed, he was a new person. Though it wasn't easy to keep the clothes on, he tried his best.

"I'll take the ice cream," he spied the menu and placed his order. "Just plain vanilla with cubes on the side."

The waitress gave him an odd look before nodding and walking away. Gray leaned back in his red, leather seat and listened to what lies the news anchors would say about him now. Instead, he was filled in on the locations of others that had recently popped up. Elfman and Evergreen were now in custody, he supposed, though he didn't know where. There haven't been any spontaneous fires recently, so it looks like Natsu hadn't managed to break free.

Stupid hothead can't do anything by himself.

Gray dug into his ice cream the moment she had set it down; it was the first good thing he'd eaten since landing in this magic-free place. He'd look into where he was and what was going on, but that'd be after he finished eating. Crunching on some of the ice, he was slightly alarmed when an unknown man slid into the booth right across from him and continued to just _stare_.

"You got a problem with me, bud?" Gray scowled at the man's rough features. Tattoos peeked out of his long sleeves and multiple piercings decorated the man's face. Not nearly as impressive as Gajeel's, though.

"You that naked guy, right?" The man leaned over the table and help out a hand. "The name's Spike, I was in that jail you broke out of. Thanks for the favor."

Gray wasn't sure what to make of the man exactly, but he shook the hand anyway. "My name's Gray, people could stop with that naked nonsense."

"What you plan on doin' now?" Spike questioned, Gray had been asking himself the same question. "City's crawilin' with the fuzz now. You some kind of terrorist, right? No way you gon make it out alive."

"Enough with that terrorist BS." Gray ground the ice in his mouth. "I'm just a guy who showed up at the wrong time and place with the wrong tattoo. You've got plenty of those."

"I do," Spike wrinkled his nose. "But at least I ain't been accused of _murder_."

"Then what _were_ you in jail for?"

Spike shrugged. "I've been dealin' out some weed, got caught. Rookie's mistake, but hey, at least I'm out now."

"You were selling weeds?" Gray wasn't sure he'd heard the guy correctly. "Like, the stuff that kills grass and flowers?"

Spike choked out a laugh and slapped the table. "No man, like marijuana! Cannabis, the good stuff."

"What do you want with me?" Gray got straight to the point.

"Like I said earlier, you did me a favor. I like to pay back my debts." Spike shrugged. "I'm in this group, back in Colorado. We could hide you out there, keep you safe."

"I don't need someone to protect me." Gray scoffed. "You honestly have no idea."

"Hey," Spike threw up his hands in defense. "I'm just sayin' we could offer lots of things you ain't gon find anywhere else. Weapons, intel—and drugs, if you're into that kinda stuff. Been leadin' the gov on a wild goose chase tryna catch us."

Gray considered this; it _would_ be best to get away from Chicago. Who knew how many people were out looking for him right now? And Spike didn't seem that bad of a guy, disregarding the cigarette breath. What did he have to lose?

"Alright." He nodded. "Count me in."

"Aight, cool man." Spike grinned, some of his teeth replaced with golden counterparts. "We'd best be gettin' out of here pronto. Welcome to the Blood Waves."

* * *

 ** _.:Ashbury, CA:._**

 ** _.:Lucy's POV:._**

"Oh, what's this?" Adelaide grinned as both Dylan and I slid into the backseat of the car. "Lucy, did you bring a _boy_ with you?"

I tried not to turn red at her suggestive tone and took a deep breath. "I _told_ you he'd be coming." I reminded her.

"I know, I know," her eyes sparkled with laughter through the review mirror as she pulled away from the school. "I'm just joking."

"My name is Dylan," he introduced himself in the fakest nice-boy voice I'd ever heard. "Thank you for allowing me to spend some time with Lucy, Mrs…?"

"Oh, don't bother! You can call me Adelaide—or even Ada!" My foster mother made me want to slowly disappear into the car's leather seats. "Nice to meet you, Dylan dear."

After eighth period had ended, we still had a lot of sorting things out to do. We needed to formulate a plan and couldn't do that under the watchful eyes of staff and the student body. So Dylan had come up with the brilliant plan to come over to my house under the rouse of studying for my Spanish quiz—which I really _do_ need to do—after school.

I had texted Adelaide the information before she came to pick me up and she'd responded with a green light. I was already regretting the decision, though, as the two of them launched into idle conversation.

"So, _Dylan_ ," Adelaide mused. "What do you think of Lucy?"

Oh Mavis.

"Well, I've been helping her figure out her way around the school and getting used to life at Point Valley. Though, she can be a _bit_ clueless sometimes." He winked at my scowl.

"Oh, that's right!" Adelaide exclaimed and I cringed at whatever could possibly come next. "I think Lucy had mentioned you before!"

 _"Did_ she, now?" His smirk quirked up and I was ready to jump out of the car.

I mentioned him. _Once._

"Yes! I know she'd _never_ admit it out loud, but I think she's quite taken with you."

"Oh, I know." He winked yet again at my now mortified expression.

"Ahahaha okay that's enough talking for now!" I forced cheeriness. "Oh, look! The house is right there, thank the stars!"

I could not escape from that metal death trap fast enough. As soon as she'd turned off the engine, I swiftly exited the car with my bag and fled towards the safe haven of a house. Of course, it wasn't like I could escape them forever.

"How was school?" Mark asked as soon as I entered.

"Good." My too-high voice responded.

Adelaide walked in with a bright smile and a smug Dylan trailing after her. I second guessed my actions, maybe I should have stayed behind so they wouldn't talk about me behind my back.

"Oh? Who's this?" Mark craned his neck from his recliner to get a good look at Dylan.

"No one! Just a friend! We're gonna go study upstairs for Spanish in my room, ok? _Bye!_ " I took Dylan's wrist and hauled him away before any more damage could be done.

"I _will_ kick you." I narrowed my eyes at his silent laughter as I closed the door behind me.

"I want that door open!" Mark's shout could be heard all through the house and I kept it open slightly. "Wide open!" I sighed and pushed the door open so wide that it nearly touched the wall.

"Don't know why he should be so worried," Dylan lounged in my chair with a lazy grin. "It's not like you _like_ like me or anything."

"What are you, twelve?" I rolled my eyes and slid my laptop to where I was on the bed. "C'mon we gotta focus here."

"Alright, give me the tech." He took my laptop without permission and began typing away. "Hey, looks like your friend got out."

"Which one?" I got up to look at what he was doing. "Is it Natsu?"

A strange looked crossed Dylan's features before he smiled and showed me the monitor. "Nope, the Naked Man."

" _Gray Fullbuster_." I reminded him. "Though, 'Naked Man' _is_ very fitting."

He raised an eyebrow. "Lucy dear, how _familiar_ are you with the _naked_ Gray Fullbuster?"

"Shut up." I took the laptop back and peered at the article, biting my lip. "Looks like they haven't found him yet. Do you think you could get something on him? Wait, if the police can't do it, then how could a mere teenaged _boy_ —such as yourself—even come close?"

"You underestimate my talents, woman." He snatched back the computer. "And I have _many_." That damned _wink_.

I ignored Dylan's narcissism and pulled out my Spanish work, might as well get something done. Though, as I looked at the verb conjugations and different tenses, my mind kept straying back to how none of that mattered. If I was lucky, I'd be back home worrying about my rent and what jobs to go on by next week.

I was brought out of my thoughts of the future when a robotic voice from my laptop echoed out "Game over." Dylan flinched, as if he didn't realize the sound was on and I narrowed my eyes at him. "What are you doing?"

"Top secret computer stuff."

"Liar," I managed to snatch back my computer and tried not to throw it back at him. "You were playing games this whole time!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

"Was not!"

"You- _urgh!_ You're supposed to _help_ me!" A feeling of utter helplessness that hovered over me these past few days came crashing down and I suddenly didn't know what to do anymore! At least on Edolas I could use magic. At least on Edolas I was strong enough to get to my friends on my own. At least on Edolas I wasn't stranded alone. Angry tears burned in my eyes and I blinked at hyper speed, wishing they'd go away.

"Don't get all upset," he joked, though I could tell in his eyes that he might freak out if I started crying. C'mon, pull it together Lucy. "Before I had—yes—played games, I managed to get something. It's not much, but it should be enough for now."

"Do…Do you know where Gray went?" I regained composure.

"Not him, that Natsu fellow you mentioned earlier."

"He's out too?"

"Yeah, but it looks like the government doesn't want the people to panic, so they're not saying anything. The media will find out eventually, they have their ways." He shrugged. "The report was coded, but I managed to get that they were transporting him from the Middle East to some military base in Nevada."

"That's right by here! Right?" I recalled the maps that I made sure to burn into my memory.

"Yeah, but problem is, he managed to escape on the way there."

My smile faltered. "So then where is he now?"

"Well, they lost him around the East Coast where the checkpoint was."

"That's the other side of the country." I stated flatly.

"It is." Dylan nodded. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"I don't…I can't- what if we send a message? No just to Natsu, but to everyone else?"

"It'll have to be something cryptic, something that only you aliens could understand."

I rolled my eyes at the term he continues to use for us mages, but didn't push on it. "I could think of something."

"Alright, I'll just get it set up then." He got on his task of computer-ing and I would occasionally peek over his shoulder to make sure he hadn't reverted back to the games. Though, every time I looked at the screen, he'd be typing a nonsense combination of green numbers, letters, and other symbols against a black screen. It was slightly mesmerizing and Dylan had to repeat the question he'd asked. "Have you thought of anything yet?"

"Huh? Oh, um…" my mind blanked for a moment before the perfect idea came to mind. I told him what it was and he did a little extra typing and clicking before cracking his knuckles and closing the laptop. "Are you sure they'll see it?" I asked.

"Technology is kinda hard to escape 'round these parts, so I'm sure at least one of them will."

"Where did you learn to do all that?"

He innocently cocked his head to the side. "Do what?"

"You know," I rolled my eyes. "Hacking into the government's database, setting up the secret message, it all looks so advanced."

He shrugged it off. "I've always had a knack for that kind of stuff, invested a little time and money in classes a few years back before deciding they've taught me all that they could. I'd figure the rest out on my own."

"You don't look like the type to be all…" I was at a loss for the word.

"Geeky?" He suggested and I nodded sheepishly. "What, did you think I was some kind of football jock?"

I didn't know what football was, but I got a pretty good impression of a jock and Dylan fit that description. "Well, yeah. With Leslie and all your looks and whatever."

"You're right, I play football." He patted a bicep as if I were to find it alluring. "Though, I was suspended from school for the last half of the season this year. Never try what I just did on a school computer."

"Ah, and your parents were okay with that?"

"My parents…well, my _parent_ didn't really care. Dad's always out on a lot of business trips."

"And your mom?" I asked tentatively, afraid of his answer.

"She's…not here anymore." He decided on saying after a moment.

"Oh, I'm-" I was about to go with the classic 'I'm sorry' response, but I had remembered back when my mom died and everyone told me that. Rich aristocrats that probably didn't even know her that well—not as well as I did anyway—would give me those fake condolences. So instead, I laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Or at least I'd tried to. Leave it to Dylan to make a nice gesture seem more than it is.

He leaned in and broke the heavy mood with a smirk. "Careful now, Lucy, the door's wide open and you don't want to give your dad any ideas."

I scoffed and shoved him away. " _This_ is what I get for being nice? And he's not _really_ my dad."

"Right, this poor couple doesn't know that their harboring an alien as a daughter."

"Oh please, _foster_ daughter." I reminded him. "I think they would have noticed a difference if we were blood related."

"You're a long way from home, aren't your _actual_ parents worried?"

"Ah, they're not…Mama passed when I was little, and then Papa later on." I smiled sadly. "Which is why finding Fairy Tail is so important to me, y'know? Kinda like a second family, they're all I have left."

This was followed by yet another dreadfully long silence before Dylan cleared his throat and was about to say something when a series of buzzes emitted from his phone. He winced and picked up the device and seemed to cringe even more. "It's Leslie."

"Ah."

He paused. "She wants to know where I am."

"Are you gonna tell her?" I couldn't imagine that going over well.

"So she can bite your head off tomorrow?" He suggested. "Maybe."

 _"Hey!"_ I hissed and tried to snatch his phone away, but he was too tall. "Tell her you have detention or whatever."

"Are you asking me to _lie?_ " He gasped. "You may be no terrorist, but a criminal in the making is quite possible."

"Says the one who just hacked into-"

"And _who_ asked me to do that?" He smirked and I gave up.

"Fine, tell her you're here and I'll start writing my will." I shrugged and pretended to scribble on some paper. "She's _your_ girlfriend."

"Not."

"She seems to think so."

"It's complicated," He sighed and flopped next to me on the bed. "We've been childhood friends since forever, and I was fine with that. But then one day she had to go through some pretty shitty things with her family and I was sort of her crutch for that, you know?"

I did know. I remembered how Natsu and Happy were there for me after finding out Papa had just passed, I smiled at the memory.

"Well then once we got to high school and all, she started wanting more."

"And you didn't?"

"Not a chance. Don't get me wrong, she's really pretty and all that, but I've only seen her as a friend. I don't even think she likes _me_ that much in a dating kind of way, as who I am. She's always loved being in the spotlight, becoming head of the dance team was like a dream come true for her. I think it was because _I_ was in sports and girls just can't resist me-"

I snorted, but he ignored me.

"I'm just a tool for her popularity, I guess. I mean, I'm sure _some_ of her feeling may be genuine. She's just changed a lot these past few years from the Leslie I could really hang out with." He sat up and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I know all this teenage stuff isn't exactly as exciting as what you've got going on."

I didn't let him know that I was secretly gushing over every word; this was the kind of stuff I would get engrossed in books when I had free time. Now I was practically living it! He _was_ right though, it wasn't as good as magic.

"Then you should just tell her you don't want anything more."

"That's what I've been doing! But everytime I bring it up she manages to twist my words or simply ignores me." He groaned.

"Lucy!" Adelaide yelled. "Dinner in fifteen!"

"I'd better get going." Dylan looked to the clock, still troubled by his teen drama and though I felt slightly sympathetic, I also felt like bursting into laughter.

"No, Dylan you can stay!" Adelaide replied from downstairs, it was impossible that she'd heard him and I just assumed she knew he was leaving.

"He's got a…doctor's appointment!" I yelled back, because face-to-face communication is overrated. "Prostate exam, seems really important he gets that checked out!" I laughed at the answer that I'd come up with, but Dylan looked less enlightened.

His face was all red and I slapped my knee, "I guess you could say that was payback from earlier."

"I hope you fail that Spanish quiz." He muttered and gathered his things.

I grinned. "Have fun explaining things with Leslie!"

He'd left after that, with a string of Spanish words I was certain were not appropriate. Once he was gone, I'd quickly scarfed down Adelaide's homemade meatloaf and thanked the stars that she was a good chef. I then proceeded to stick my Spanish work back into my bag, never to look at it again.

As I was just about to go to bed after looking more into the internet, my phone buzzed and I was confused. The only people who texted me were Adelaide and Mark. Could it be that Leslie had discovered Dylan came by and now she was sending death threats?! She'd been nice to me earlier, but that was when she thought I was harmless! Which I am, harmless that is, but _she_ wouldn't think so.

I quickly lunged for my phone that sat at the edge of my bed and read whatever was waiting for me. All anticipation I had building up died when I read that the sender was 'Hot Stuff' followed by a series of heart emojis.

 **Miss me?**

How did he get my phone—wait—I remembered that he had spent a good portion of the day within phone-grabbing distance. But still, I had a passcode and—as if a four-digit passcode could stop someone who'd just gotten into the American government's mainframe.

 _I'm changing your contact name to 'Dill Pickle'_

I laughed to myself at that.

 **Then I'm changing yours to 'Alien'**

 _What was it before?_

Silence.

 _C'mon tell me_

 **Nah**

 _Fine, I dub thee as 'Salty Dill Pickle'_

 **Ok fine fine**

 _?_

 **You were 'Terrorist'**

I changed his name to Salty Dill Pickle anyways.

* * *

 **Hello, yes, longest chapter I've written in the history of chapters I've ever written, here. I was going to introduce another Fairy Tail member, but didn't want to stretch things out too much. I think my favorite thing is either writing dialect or ridiculous banter.**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out!**


	9. Cait Shelter

**It's the 4** **th** **of July! That may mean nothing for some, but I wish us Americans a Happy Independence Day! I do not own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

 _ **.:Denver, CO:.**_

"And then he just… _ate_ the poison! Like it was nothing!" Levy laughed as she walked back into Blood Waves' building, with Blade and Katana in tow, laughing. "I swear, he's indestructible!"

Unlike before she had left the building, Levy felt a lot more carefree. She'd gone to a place called iHop that served what tasted like heaven, and then Katana had actually said he wanted to check out a _book_. Katana—the one who looked like he could _kill_ a man just by looking—liked to _read_. Levy was ecstatic with this mutual interest in literature and she checked out a few books of her own, under his own account, of course. They'd spent the entire day just hanging out, much to her original disbelief. Today, she'd gone out again with 'bodyguards' for a brunch.

Who would have known that these burly guys in a lethal sounding gang called Blood Waves, would have this much personality? She'd enjoy telling them stories of Fairy Tail on the way back, albeit she warped the part about powers as to not sound mental.

"Crazy friend you've got there." Blade chuckled and locked the deadbolt back in place. "Are all of them like that?"

"Hmm," Levy hopped onto one of the bar stools and spun around. "Not _all_ of them, but they're all lively enough. It's great."

"Which reminds me," Blade pointed to the ceiling. "We've got some computers upstairs, now is a good time to look into their locations, if you want."

"Yes!" Levy jumped off her seat and followed Blade up the staircase. "Wait, we're going to the _third_ floor?" She lowered her voice. "Where you do the…the _business?_ "

"Yeah, but those are in the other rooms," Blade held open the door for the first room that they had approached. "And here we are."

Levy's eyes widened as she took in the equipment laid out in the room. Blade had said 'a few computers' but this was a full on lab! The room was dark, lit with only the glowing monitors, and she was sure that couldn't be good for the eyesight. For a single keyboard or two, there'd be around six monitors, she couldn't imagine how they found the time to look at them all! There were four of these mega computers set up around the room, and in the middle was a table littered with unfinished drinks and snacks as well as a worn down sofa.

"This is amazing," she breathed. "A _lot_ more than the library."

"The library doesn't even scratch the surface," Blade chuckled. "In here, a lot more than just the internet is available. If we're lucky, one of our guys can manage to slip past the FBI's main firewalls. They change the passwords daily to maintain security, but not all of them are always strong enough."

"Hey Blade," One of the guys that was seated at a mega computer kept his eyes on the screen. His hair was dyed silver at the jagged ends, and the piercings in his ears made a giant _hole_. "Check this out, wicked Google homepage today."

"Sheath, I thought you were supposed to be setting up the locations for our next job?" Blade asked, though not very reprimanding.

"Later, but this shit looks cool."

"What is it?" Intrigued, Levy walked over to where all six screens combined to show one image of the Google homepage.

At first, it looked like the normal color and font as it had all the other days. But when Sheath hovered a mouse over the logo, the words started to move. One by one, from left to right, the letters shimmered and the background darkened. Soon enough, there was a night sky full of the constellations that Levy was familiar with back on Earthland. Though, there was a main constellation that spelled out the word 'Google'.

"Hey, I know those!" She couldn't help but exclaim.

"What, astrology?" Sheath questioned. "Who doesn't?"

The moving image wasn't done yet. Now, they erupted into flames that danced across the screen, and Levy could have sworn that they took the shape of a dragon before returning back to the word 'Google', ablaze. Next was what looked like water magic, sharp fragments of iron, glittering crystals of ice, wisps of wind, runes, and more.

This _had_ to be for her.

By the time Google had gone through its many transformations, it reverted back to default.

"See? What'd I tell you?" Sheath turned slightly to smirk at Blade, who was just wiping off his awed expression. Levy was surprised that the man was wearing a pair of glasses. "I wanted to see what the event was for, hardly no Doodle for Google or dead person's birthday," he went on, "But when you click on it, all that shows up is _this_."

Once Sheath clicked on the plain logo, the computer was taken to a blank webpage with equally plain black words that filled only a small portion. Still, as she read the print, Levy couldn't help a slow grin spread across her face.

 **Do Fairies Have Tails?**

 _ **LOOKING**_ **for answers!**

 **THE STARS SEND A MESSAGE.**

"The hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" Blade leaned in closer with a frown. "Hey Mage, you said you knew astrology or somethin'? It talks about stars here."

"No," she found it hard to contain a smile. "I think…I think that was meant for me. Someone- one of my friends is looking for others, too!"

"They did all _that_?!" Sheath's jaw clamped shut just as quickly as it had fallen open. "That's some skill, you sure they ain't working with the government?"

"Highly, _highly_ doubt it." She shook her head. "Do you think you could do something similar to that? Send a message back to them?"

"Normally, I don't mess with this kind of public stuff," Sheath rubbed the back of his neck, unsure.

"Really? I thought you guys in Blood Waves were supposed to be the _best_ of the best, or something?" Levy frowned.

"Well, I guess I gotta show the little lady what we're made of, huh?" He chuckled and read over the message once more. "How do you want it?"

Levy's mind whirred with ideas flying back and forth. The' **Do Fairies Have Tails?** ' part was surely to say that it was for members of Fairy Tail. She understood why they very well couldn't go busting out with the guild's insignia; that'd likely cause a terrorist panic. ' **LOOKING for answers!** ' had nothing to do with the first part, this person was just saying that they were looking for Fairy Tail. The last part, ' **THE STARS SEND A MESSAGE.** ', was something Levy only had to think about for a beat.

Lucy.

* * *

 _ **.:Peoria, IL:.**_

"If I have to stay at another motel, I'm building an igloo outside." Gray cracked what sounded like every bone in his body, sore from the poor mattress and endless travel.

"Y'know, that might actually be possible," Spike paid the teller at the front. "With this whacked up weather and all, snow in April ain't that much of a surprise."

The two had taken the train out of Chicago and stopped by several suburbs along the way before they finally reached Peoria, Illinois. The city was the biggest one in miles, nothing but small towns and cornfields in the rest of the vicinity.

"But don't worry, friend," Spike patted Gray's back and the ice-mage flinched away. "We ain't doin' any more ground travel. A friend o' the gang's got some flight ready for us in the outskirts. Go get a cab."

Gray directed a glare in Spike's direction. The gang member had _claimed_ that he was repaying a debt, but Gray seemed to be the only paying for anything. The train rides, motels, and now a driver? He was almost out of his stolen money and hoped that Colorado wasn't far.

"How much longer?" Gray slumped in the back of the cab.

"Probably 'nother day or so," Spike shrugged. "Depends on the weather and gas."

"The skies are clear." Gray stated.

"They are _now_ ," Spike craned his neck at the sky. "I plan on flyin' us out directly to the Rockies and then one of our guys should be waitin'."

"You can _fly_?" Gray asked, not knowing of this man's ability.

"A _plane_ , yes," Spike scrunched his nose and the driver let them off in a slightly less urban area. "If you go on one of those talks about magic and whatnot, I'm gonna really have to second guess bringin' you along, sport."

Gray sighed and reminded himself that this was a place called Earth, as Spike had informed during a mini questionnaire. Not Earthland, nor Edolas, but a place with no magic at all. It explains why his Ice Make magic wasn't working, and also probably why Natsu hadn't destroyed half of the world by now. He'd hope that in Colorado, there would be more answers as well as the security that Spike had promised.

"Just down this road 'ere we got a dirt runway," Spike gestured to what looked like rolling hills until a medium sized building appeared along with the metal beasts Gray had seen up in the sky. "I like takin' the Turboprops for a spin, nice speed. Wait out 'ere while I get them keys."

"I don't need you to boss me around." Gray retorted, but stayed outside anyways because he was curious of these 'planes'.

He walked along the whole line of them, probably around two dozen structures that could transport in the air. Of course, if there was magic then none of this would be necessary. Compared to Blue Pegasus' airship, this was nothing.

"You ready to fly, pretty boy?" Spike jangled his newly given keys and Gray cringed inwardly, remembering how Sugar Boy called him similar names in Edolas.

Gray cautiously followed the steps up to the aircraft with Spike in the lead. The two of them slid into the only two seats available and he was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of buttons, levers, and dials to control.

"You sure you know how to work this thing?"

"Blood Waves only reins in those with the best talents, Sir Gray." Spike pushed two of the overhead buttons and a glass hood slid over their heads as a cool fan turned on. "I've been doin' this for quite some time now."

Gray wondered again what Blood Waves would be like once he reached them, but didn't think on it too much as the plane began to roll. Gaining more and more speed each second, a low whistling hummed around the plane as they proceeded to takeoff. Gray gripped his armrests tighter.

"You 'fraid of heights?" Spike laughed and pulled on a headset.

"Only that you'll crash." Gray grit his teeth at Spike's slightly erratic steering, but it evened out once the ground was far below them. "Don't do any flips."

Spike only responded with a laugh and the threats of a barrel roll.

* * *

 _ **.:Orlando, FL:.**_

Natsu didn't think this far.

The army men that had taken him away from the desert camp had apparently thought him dangerous. _Well, they aren't wrong_ , he'd thought. Of course _the_ Natsu Dragneel should be feared by most, admired by all. But to be treated like your average ruffian? Unthinkable.

They'd transported him in some kind of giant aircraft. Funny thing is, the usual motion sickness he experienced was gone. He maybe felt a little queasy every now and then, but nothing to the magnitude as it was before. During his hours of solitude in an enclosed section of the flight, he'd tried again to create his flames.

It frustrated him how there wasn't even a sign of warmth emanating off of his fingers. He'd cursed and growled, but then soon realized that at the moment, getting out of confinement was his first priority. The people here must have had weak prisoners before, or maybe just old material, for he was easily able to break apart his cuffs discreetly simply by pulling.

He'd then used his free hands to quietly untie his legs and remove the horrid gag they'd put on him. Once he felt the landing, it was all too easy to overtake the unsuspecting guards that opened the heavy metal doors.

Making a run for it was also easier than he'd originally anticipated. Weaving through the bullets that all seemed much too slow for him, he'd busted through the boom barrier and even outran the dogs. Maybe the dogs here were just…slower? Nevertheless, he'd had to hide out for several hours, and by dawn, was officially lost. Well, lost- _er_.

It was something of a miracle that he ran into a gas station where a minivan had parked. The family must have gotten food or gone for a bathroom break, but Natsu took no chances with his time. He'd ducked into the stupidly unlocked trunk and buried himself amongst their supplies as to not be seen.

Then he'd fallen asleep.

And woke up in a different place entirely.

There was a _castle_.

The family was gone again, and their van was in a lot with a bunch of other cars. People walked on the sides, some wearing ridiculous ears and others elaborate, cheap dresses. What universe was he in now? His eyes caught an elaborated sign that read: **Walt Disney World: Where Dreams Come True.**

How the family hadn't noticed someone of Natsu's size hiding out in their van was something beyond him. He just took the opportunity to scavenge the vehicle for anything worth keeping. Instead, he found an extra set of keys.

It didn't exactly _look_ like an SE-plug car, but how hard could driving one of these possibly be?

* * *

 _ **.:Ashbury, CA:.**_

We were supposed to be brainstorming for our essay due on Monday for when we get back from the weekend, but nearly the entire class was either on their phones, or gossiping with one another. I spied the teacher engrossed in some romance novel with a questionable cover before tapping Dylan's shoulder.

"Psst," I whispered not so quietly. "What you did was awesome!"

"Huh, what?" He tugged out his earbuds and looked at me smugly. "Did you just say I was awesome? I already knew that, but it doesn't hurt to-"

"Not you," I rolled my eyes. "I saw the Google homepage earlier, I love it!"

"Pssh _, that?"_ He scoffed. "That was nothing."

"Everyone was talking about it during lunch, I even saw some media articles. Some conspiracy connected it to the illuminati. What's the illuminati?"

"Not as bad as SISI," he shrugged and then frowned. "I think."

"How do you know they won't take it down?" I asked. "I mean, it _is_ their homepage."

"They could _try_ if they'd like, but I had it set up to last twenty four hours _exact_." He tapped a pencil on the desk. "Google wouldn't risk shutting down the site for a day because of profit, so they'll probably make up some bizarre story to go along with it."

"If only you were as tolerable as you were smart…seriously though, thanks." I was hesitant to show any gratitude as it may further boost his ego. "You were right, one of them is bound to see it."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." He grinned and stuck out an ear which I threatened to poke with my own pencil.

"I said that dill pickles are my least favorite food." I sniffed. "And I have an essay to plan for, so if you'll excuse me-"

"Why do you keep calling me dill pickle?"

"Didn't I tell you? Dear Leslie seems quite taken with the nickname 'Dyl', and I find that it bears a _striking_ resemblance to that of a dill pickle."

"Could it be it's because you're… _jealous_ of her?" He snickered.

I stared blankly at him and sighed deeply. I blinked slowly a couple of times to draw out my most uninterested expression possible.

"Ok ok," he shrugged. " _Not_ jealous."

"And also _not_ paying attention." The teacher had apparently abandoned her book to check on her class for once, why did she always have to pick on _me?_

I had that Spanish quiz next period, and rumor has it, it's going to be speaking. So when Dylan went off to lunch to do whatever he did with his friends, I stopped by the girls' bathroom to calm my nerves and maybe give myself a pep talk. Right, because talking to yourself in the bathroom doesn't seem strange at all.

Lucky for me, there was no one there, probably because I had chosen the less popular bathroom—the one with _only_ two mirrors (the horror). I washed my face and took a peek behind my bandage at my Fairy Tail insignia for reassurance.

" _There_ you are." The sound of heels echoed around the bathroom and I tensed, quickly covering my hand back up.

"Leslie, hi." I forced a smile. "What brings you here?"

"What, I can't use the bathroom?" She crossed her arms and I noticed that she wasn't alone; two other girls flanked her side. One of them looked particularly bored on her phone, while the other one tried for an intimidating stance. "Of course, that's not why I came. Who uses _school_ toilets? Oh wait," she wrinkled her nose and looked me over, "Don't answer that."

"Then what?" I asked, because what could they do to me? Capture me in a magic water bubble hovering above the ground and torture me to the point of near death? Not likely.

"You know _what?_ " She spat. "I thought we had come to terms with your relationship with Dyl. And when I say 'relationship' I mean the _nonexistent_ one."

"Leslie, I don't know what you're-"

"Don't you _dare!"_ She pointed a finger at me. "I _know_ he left school with you. I _know_ he stayed over in your little hut!"

"He was helping me with my Spanish work." I explained. "I have a quiz today and-"

"Oh, yeah, _sure_ ," she rolled her eyes and the two girls shook their heads. "After school studying? Everyone knows that's code for hooking up."

"Except," I pointed out. " _I_ didn't know that."

"Lucy Heartfilia, I've had _enough_ of you!" She snapped. "I've been with him for years and _years!_ You show up for three _days_ and think you've got him wrapped around your finger?!"

"Leslie," I know I shouldn't say something that wasn't for me to tell, but to Tartarus with it, she was getting on my nerves. "Dylan doesn't even _like_ you, not in _that_ kind of way."

"You sniveling little _bitch!"_ She shot back and I wished there was a chair for me to sit on; this might take a while. "You think you know him _so_ well, don't you? I've been with him through the good and bad. Where were _you_ when his mom died? Where were _you_ when his _dad_ would disappear all the time?"

"Uh, should you be telling me this? Because I don't think-"

"I don't _care_ what you think!" She shrieked, now dangerously close to scratching my face with for all I knew could be razor sharp, pink nails. "This is your _last_ chance, Heartfilia. You've had your disgusting fun, but now you leave him out of it."

"Or else?"

"Or else I'll _make_ you leave."

I was going to tell her that I _wanted_ to leave. That I'd probably be gone so fast after reuniting with Fairy Tail, that she wouldn't even remember my face. But Leslie just turned on her heel and stalked out the door. Though, I did catch one of her lackeys whispering "Dumb blonde."

The minute bell brought me out of my thoughts of no remorse and I sighed, time to face my language failure. I pushed the door handle. It didn't budge. Huh, weird. I pushed harder, but there was still no give.

"She did _not_." I grit my teeth and banged my head on the locked door. How did she even get a key? "Leslie!" No response. "Ugh!"

I had decided sometime last night as I lay in bed that even though my grades and reputation here won't ever affect me in my _real_ life, they were still important. For instance, if Adelaide and Mark were to hear that I skipped a class or failed a quiz, there would be questions. There may _also_ be restrictions, restrictions that I _couldn't_ afford.

So, I took it upon myself to actually start trying, and clearly, things weren't working out for me at the moment. Leaning on the door, I contemplated on texting Dylan about my situation, but then decided against it. If I brought him into this, then who _knows_ what Leslie will do next?

"Open sesame." I shoved again hopelessly.

The bell rang and something inside me wilted as my heart sped up. I'm late, there it is, my life is over. And now I was mad. Mad at Leslie, mad at this stupid mortal world, and mad at school rules. I felt pumped, my blood boiled.

"I'm all fired up." I muttered Natsu's favorite line with a grin.

I Lucy Kicked the door with all I had and ta-da! It opened! Well, it didn't 'open' exactly. The door _sort of_ flew off its hinges several feet before the mangled slab of metal went crashing into the lockers, leaving sizable dents that I'd surely never be able to pay for. This would certainly get me in a lot more trouble than just being late.

There was a large sound factor to this occurrence, and I barely had time to gawk at what I'd just done before someone would come running to check out what had happened. So I went to the one place where I was sure someone could help, the main office.

Mrs. Wilde was in her usual spot and looked up at me with a puzzled smile. "Lucy, dear, aren't you supposed to be in class? Did you get lost?"

"That's the thing," I laughed nervously. "You said that I could come to you when I needed anything, right?"

"Of course! What's the matter?" Her forehead creased with worry.

"Okay, well, um," I laughed sheepishly. "I _kinda_ got locked inside of the bathroom, right? It was a harmless prank. But then the bell rang, and I didn't want to be late, so I kind of…opened it."

"Well that's wonderful!" Mrs. Wilde smiled and took out a pink slip of paper. "Do you need me to write you a pass?"

"Yes, that would be great! But, um…" I lowered my voice. "I also kinda…broke it."

"Broke it how?" She tilted her head. "I'm sure it's nothing the janitors won't be able to fix."

"No, it's like…" I took a nearby sticky note and crumpled it for a visual demonstration. "And some lockers kinda got in the way too."

"Hm," Mrs. Wilde frowned and I was sure she was about to haul me off to the principal herself, even with her small body. "I'm sure these kinds of things can be fixed up, but there's going to be a fuss and I don't want that kind of negativity directed at you."

"So…you won't tell anyone?" I smiled. "That it was me?"

"It'll be our little secret," she winked and slid me the pass. "Run along now, there's still time left for your Spanish class."

"Thank you _so_ much, Mrs. Wilde!" I beamed at her and exited the office, unable to believe that I had gotten off so easily.

As much as I dreaded walking into Spanish, I quickened my pace as Leslie was still in lunch and could be prowling the halls in search for my devastation at this very moment. To my utter delight, today there was a substitute teacher who knew just about as much Spanish as I did, so now I was blessed with a few extra days to stress.

Come by eighth period, I got there early since the substitute wasn't sure when to let us out. By the time Dylan made it, I was deeply engrossed in replaying the memory of how _I mutilated a metal door off its hinges and damaged nearby lockers_. I never knew that I had this strength before, but that's probably because I never needed it until now. I wonder if the others are experiencing these changes, too.

"Earth to Lucy—oh wait maybe you don't respond to that—Earthland to Lucy." Dylan waved a hand in front of my face and I blinked. "So apparently there was an explosion during seventh period, should I be asking how Spanish class went?"

"It wasn't an _explosion_." I sighed and tried to figure out how I'd explain this phenomenon.

"Oh, really? Forgive me for asking, but I _did_ see the damage." He scoffed. "You've somewhat proven to me that you're as harmless as an unprovoked porcupine. Clearly, this porcupine has been provoked. Why?"

"I'm not a porcupine."

"And I'm not a dill pickle, now answer the question or I'll have to take out the pepper spray."

I doubted that he carried pepper spray around all the time, but answered his question as best I could. "Well, _someone_ didn't come up with a convincing enough story last night, so Leslie decided to drop me a visit and-"

Dylan cursed. "Did you hurt her?"

"What? No!" I scoffed. "She locked me in the bathroom and I busted outta there."

"With _what?_ "

"Um," I coughed. "I kicked the door?"

His shoulders slumped, and I didn't blame him for not believing. "Lucy-"

"I did! I don't…it's really weird, but I'll tell you more later, once I know for sure." The bell rang and Mr. Buchannan told everyone to go to their seats, and that was that.

Once I got out of APUSH, I didn't even have time to explain myself because Dylan claimed that he had really important 'jockey' business to do, and that I wouldn't understand because I'm just a porcupine. So then I went on my own porcupine merry way towards the main entrance where Adelaide was picking me up.

I _did_ make sure to be very cautious, though I wouldn't think Leslie could assassinate me when everyone was watching. On my way out, I took a peek through the main office's glass door to wave goodbye to Mrs. Wilde, she's been so nice to me. Why? Maybe it was some kind of old-lady syndrome or something, but I appreciated it. Though, when I checked, she wasn't there.

Strange, she's always at her desk.

Stupid Lucy, you can't expect her to sit down twenty-four seven! I chastised myself, she's got a life too! But just before I turned away, I caught her walking out of a conference room with Dylan in tow. At this point, I wanted to know what the heck was going on, so I hid behind a tall potted plant and peered through the glass.

Hm, they were in a deep conversation. Dylan was doing most of the talking, he looked kind of mad. What could he be mad about? Was she not allowing him to conduct his jockey business? I snapped back to reality and noticed that I was no better than Leslie by spying. I'd leave him to his own business then.

"How was school?" Adelaide asked for probably the hundredth time once we got back to the house. "You look a little worried."

"Oh, yeah, there was a substitute in Spanish today, so now I just get more time to stress over that speaking quiz we're gonna have." Not a lie.

"Can't you get Dylan to help out?"

"Ha! Good one, he's busy actually." I shrugged. "I think he'll be busy for the rest of high school." Lie.

"Uh huh, sure he is." Adelaide smiled. "Mark is working overtime today, so I guess we can break out some of the unhealthy processed stuff."

We ate a meal of noodles and chips. It's really bizarre because at first, the noodles were all dry and hard, but after just adding _water_ and putting it in the heating box—microwave—they were as good as fresh! Oh the things you can do with technology.

So far, the news had supplied me with at least a shred of information of what was happening with Fairy Tail each day, and they didn't fail me this time.

"The suspected terrorist bearing the Mark of SISI found in the Middle East several days ago has escaped." Jane Doe reported. I smiled, Dylan was right. The media would find out one way or another, I wondered how they'd been able to get past government secrets like we did. "The unidentified man with uncanny pink hair-"

"Salmon." I whispered with a smile.

"Appeared to have escaped once his plane had landed, the original plan was to transfer him to a detention center, but that has been compromised." Her lips pursed. "Now to John Doe who is live on the scene where the radical was last spotted."

The screen changed to where John Doe was, and it looked to be some kind of fairy tale amusement park, except there was considerable wreckage seen as the cameraman panned around. "Early this afternoon, the unidentified terrorist was spotted in this beloved Walt Disney World theme park in Orlando, Florida. Breaking through the gates, he managed to drive a 2013 black Toyota Sonata with _no_ intention of stopping."

"Oh, Natsu." I whispered and my smile fell. Surely, he didn't _mean_ to. I don't even think Natsu knows _how_ to drive! Maybe Edolas Natsu, but not Earthland.

"Reports coming in say that there have been fifteen injured, but no deaths. Casualties are not life threatening and the patients are expected to make a full recovery." John announced and I let out a breath of relief. "Though, property damages have been racked up to the millions, and no one has seen the Pink Man since."

"Yes," The screen switched back to Jane. "Police found the discarded Sonata just a mile from the park, and it is assumed that the man may have either stolen another, is in hiding, or may even be holding hostages to do his bidding."

"Idiots." I mumbled under my breath. "He would never."

"Speaking of missing, the Naked Man along with a handful of other criminals have escaped the CPD jail and none have been recovered." Jane read off her paper. "The city, however, is staying calm, and federal agents are working around the clock to find the escapees."

"Good luck with that," I smirked.

"Lucy, what on Earth are you saying to yourself over there?" Adelaide peered at me and I coughed.

"Oh, uh, I was just texting someone."

"Dylan?" Her suspicion turned into glee and I shook my head.

Then, as if she jinxed it, Dylan did text me.

 **We need to talk.**

Oh dear Mavis, that did not sound good. I finished up my noodles and threw out the styrofoam cup. "I'll be upstairs in my room stressing over Spanish!"

"But it looks like there's a new story about snowstorms in Egypt!" Adelaide called after me, but I had already gotten upstairs.

Criss-crossing my legs on the bed, I opened the text again and bit my lip as I texted back a reply.

 _About?_

 **Can't say**

 _Why not?_

 **The government could be tapping into our conversation.**

I rolled my eyes at that, though in hindsight, the possibility of that was very high.

 _Is it about Natsu? I saw it on the news just now_

 **You mean the one who just wrecked the best of my childhood memories?**

 _That's the one._

 **Nope, something else**

 _Is it the bathroom door again? I really didn't mean to break anything…_

 **Not that either**

 _THEN JUST TELL ME_

 **I'm coming over**

 _You can't just COME OVER._

 **Oh, do you want to come to my place then ;)**

 _Fine, come over_

 **Be there in 10**

But he was here in five minutes, much to my surprise and Adelaide's delight. He'd even brought a bunch of Spanish textbooks to look convincing, but I glared at him the whole time he chatted with Adelaide and up until we were in my room.

"Okay," I crossed my arms. "What was _so_ important that you just _had_ to drop everything and come over? Did you miss me?" I cooed.

"The Google homepage is normal again."

"So?"

"It hasn't been twenty-four hours yet. That's the thing, we still have…two hours, thirty seven minutes, and fourteen seconds left." He peered at his watch. "And that's not all."

"It's not?"

"Whoever took down the message, sent _me_ one." He slid his own laptop out of his messenger bag and a glowing screen illuminated his face. "It's not a Google thing either, this person managed to _personally_ contact me."

"Great! Now we can talk!"

"No, _not_ great." He frowned. "I've never, _ever_ had anyone break through one of my codes. Right down to the binary elements, it should have been _impossible_ for them to track me down."

"Okay, your pride has taken a hit." I feigned sympathy. "What was the message they sent? Maye one of the Fairy Tail people found someone just as talented as you."

"I can assure you, that's a rarity." He scoffed and peered at his monitor.

I tried to make sense of what he was looking at, but again, it was just a sequence of green script that was incomprehensible to me on the black screen.

"This person is asking if I'm the 'Keyed Star'." He read off. "Like, Alicia Keys? She's a star."

"No, dill pickle, that's me." I grinned, this really _was_ someone from Fairy Tail. "Celestial mage, remember?"

"Right, because you've mentioned you have magical keys and all evidence is present before me." He rolled his eyes and continued to translate. "It says something about 'gearing up to lead the shadows'? Lucy, do you know what voodoo is? You're not a Satanist are you? Because-"

"Stop talking and read the rest." I interrupted him and he rolled his eyes yet again. "Oh lookie here, this one isn't cryptic for once! They're asking if you finished writing your novel because they really want to read it."

"Levy!" I gasped and smiled.

Knowing by that last part that it was most _definitely_ her, I could assume that by 'gearing up to lead the shadows' was just a really complex way of her saying that she was the leader of Shadow Gear! I wondered who was helping her. She's really smart, so I wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out on her own.

Dylan cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to say something. "I take it you know this 'Levy'?"

"Yes! She's my best friend!" I tried not to jump in my excitement.

He put a hand over his heart. "I thought _I_ was your best-"

"Okay, so I want you to tell her this…"

Dylan complied with my request, only complaining minimally, but once I'd started yawning he declared that it was time for him to leave because beauty sleep is a 'fickle thing'.

"And don't think I forgot about the bathroom door thing." He pointed at me. "You've got a lot of explaining to do."

I stopped mid-yawn and nodded as he left, though from downstairs, I could hear Adelaide babying him as he tried to make his escape. Once I heard the door shut, I was instantly awake and shut my own door. It was time to discover what was going on with my body. That Lucky Kick? Totally not normal.

I had this…strength that I've never felt before, and I had to test it out again to make sure it was real. Sneaking downstairs as to not cause alarm that'd I'd be going out—it was only the backyard—I stepped out into the grass and looked for a tree.

Yes, I was going to punch a tree.

I didn't want to harm a _palm_ tree—they looked so nice—so I went for the big oak one in the back. Finding its thick trunk, I checked my surroundings to make sure there weren't any government spies lingering about. And then, I punched the tree.

I probably should have worn gloves.

"Ow ow ow!" Tears stung my eyes as I clutched my surely bloody fist, not my best decision.

But look! At the tree! Maybe it was the poor moonlight, but there was a sizable chunk taken out of that tree. A sizable chunk taken out by _me!_ Splinters of wood littered the ground and my awe was interrupted with the sound of the back door opening.

"Lucy? Is that you?" Adelaide's small voice reached me and I froze where I was.

"I, uh, yeah! I was just-"

"Could you do me a favor and get the mail? Mark's still at work and I forgot earlier."

"Y-Yeah, no problem!" I replied, still slightly shaken.

"Thanks!" She smiled and closed the door.

Did she not see me? Maybe I was too far into the darkness, well thank the stars for that! I made my way around the house and stuck my hand into the brick mailbox, pulling out a wad of letters, pamphlets, and sales papers. My hand still ached as I flipped through today's mail.

Bills, bills, feed starving children, save the environment, bills, school information, and—

I stopped in my tracks and peered closer at the white envelope. Again, maybe it was just a simple trick of the moonlight, or maybe that really _was_ Cait Shelter's insignia. Nah, it couldn't be—wait—the sender read 'Cait Shelter'.

"No way," I breathed and took the envelope inside. "Hey, Adelaide? What's Cait Shelter doing in the mail?"

"You couldn't have forgotten already!" She swiped the mail out of my hands and looked through them as I had. "It's the orphanage where we found you."

* * *

 _ **.:Blackleaf, MT:.**_

"Are you sure you're not cold?" A plain girl with mouse brown hair asked her new companion.

"No, no I'm fine." A small girl not quite a teenager, with longs wisps of blue hair shoved her pale hands into a coat pocket. "You people have done so much for me already, I don't know how to thank you."

"Oh no, Wendy, was it?" The girl smiled. "The pleasure is all ours."

Wendy Marvell sat in the back of a public transit bus along with a group of six or seven other girls. Leading them was a woman with kind eyes at the age of maybe her mid-twenties. These people had helped Wendy when she suddenly found herself in the middle of a forest, rather than at the S-Class trials on Mount Antro.

When she'd first arrived, Wendy thought she had failed the test and had begun to cry. But then she got hungry, so she went looking for maybe a restaurant that'd serve her food even though she didn't have any Jewels on her. Except, there were no restaurants.

And Wendy couldn't use her magic.

Feeling as _hopeless_ as ever, especially without Carla by her side, Wendy had walked by the edge of a winding road that cut through a never-ending forest. She'd even had to sleep in the wilderness when nightfall came! Of course, she'd use to camp with Mystogan all the time, but that was when she had magic. Something was wrong, but she felt too helpless to fix anything!

That was all until yesterday, when a bus had stopped for her—no other vehicles had—and this group of girls had welcomed her. They told her that she was lucky she didn't catch a cold, and fed her warm soup they'd kept in a thermos.

"Where are we going?" She finally found the nerve to ask.

"It's a home for girls like us," the brunette—her name was Sophie—smiled dazedly. "We can be who we are, even when no one else accepts us. You'll be happy there."

 _But there are people that accept me!_ Wendy had wanted to shout, but was still very confused and didn't want to leave them.

"You're lucky we took a trip to town today," The young woman said. "We needed some more supplies for the girls here, who knows what would have happened to you out there?"

"We have to protect each other," Sophie nodded. "All we need is each other."

Wendy frowned at this type of closed mindset, but didn't want to question her rescuers.

"You're a quiet one," the woman smiled. "My name is Caroline."

"M-My…I'm Wendy." She introduced herself, even though she had already stated her name once before.

Caroline laughed anyway. "I know that, and I think you'll warm up soon, no need to be so shy. There are a lot more of us here and you can be a part of our family.

That sounded wrong, Wendy cringed inwardly. She didn't want to offend Caroline, or Sophie, or any of the other girls—she already had a family. She had Fairy Tail and more than anything in the world, she wanted to see them.

"Where are we going?" She asked again.

"You'll see," Caroline looked ahead as a castle-like mansion came into view, partly hidden by the mountainous wildlife. "You'll see."

Sophie gripped Wendy's arm and her voice came out a lot bolder than earlier. "Welcome to Cait Shelter."

* * *

 **Well I'll be diddly darn damned, now** _ **this**_ **chapter ranks as the longest chapter I've written in the history of chapters I've ever written! And my eyes do not appreciate these hours of monitor-staring, not one bit! Yes, Wendy was the character that I was going to introduce in the** _ **last**_ **chapter, and I was even going to put it off till the** _ **next**_ **one, but clearly she made the cut.**

 **8XxAnimexX8, out.**


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